A solar flare during September 1999. The next solar cycle will be much stronger than the one just ending, according to researchers.
The next sunspot cycle is predicted to be 30 to 50 percent stronger than the last, and will begin almost a year later than normal, according to forecasters at the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research.
A new computer model of solar activity will allow for early warnings of solar storms, which can slow satellites in orbit, disrupt global communications and bring down power grids.
• An Australian researcher wrote in the journal Solar Terrestrial Physics that increasing sunspot activity over the next year could bring above-normal rainfall to eastern Australia, ending the worst drought in a century.
Professor Robert Baker of Australia's University of New England said he made the prediction based on past solar activity and climate records.
But the country's Bureau of Meteorology discounts his theory, saying his study is "significantly flawed."
Photo: NASA