If researcher James Shirley is correct, the 1990s will bring extremes of cold weather and volcanic activity as a result of the unusual orbit the Sun is on - an orbit which it has taken for only two short periods over the last 500 years.
The last two such incidents, in 1632-33 and 1810-12, were marked by climatic conditions arguably more extreme than anything experienced this century. These included long winters, short growing seasons, rapid growth of glaciers and one of the most intensive bursts of explosive volcanic eruption of the past 500 years. The extreme winter that stopped Napoleon's advance in Russia occurred after the solar retrograde event in the 1810s. In the Northeastern US and Western Europe, 1816 became known as 'the year without a summer'.
Either long, dark winters or long periods of atmospheric pollution by volcanic materials may increase the incidence and severity of wintertime depression known as SAD (seasonal affective disorder), usually seen in northern latitudes.
Cycles/James Shirley (Foundation for the Study of Cycles), 3333 Michelson Dr., No. 210, Irvine, CA 92715, USA.
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