“We see a cooling trend,” Martin Mlynczak of NASA’s Langley Research Center said in late September. “High above Earth’s surface, near the edge of space, our atmosphere is losing heat energy. If current trends continue, it could soon set a Space Age record for cold.” …
…. Ron Turner a Senior Science Advisor to NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts program, said at the time that this solar cycle was “among the weakest on record,” noting that in the 23 solar cycles since recording began in 1755, there were very few solar maxima weaker than that recorded in 2014.
As a consequence, scientists are predicting one of the coldest periods ever recorded for our upper atmosphere – and that means cooler temperatures down here, too.
“We’re not there quite yet,” Mlynczak said about the anticipated record low thermosphere temperatures, “but it could happen in a matter of months.” …