Sun's low magnetic activity may portend an ice age - UPDATE

You read it here first on 31 January.

Subsequently the story has been picked up by Popular Mechanics
and by Investor’s Business Daily.

Their writers both found Ken Tapping, or perhaps our post, fascinating, but despite our almost unqualified admiration for Popular Mechanics, we would like to note that their statement that “Solar influence on climate is slight compared to the impact of man-made greenhouse gases, a National Academy of Sciences report concluded in 1995” is complete nonsense. The mini ice age known as the Maunder Minimum was caused by the Sun’s dimming and directly contradicts the NAS, as does Canada Space Agency project director Ken Tapping. Despite believing that mankind’s activities contribute to global warming, Ken explicitly told us that in his estimation, "The Sun’s activity contributes to at least 50% of the warming and cooling on Earth."