Russia: 'Mini ice age' could hit Earth in 15 years, study reveals

Yelena Popova, a research associate at Moscow's State University of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, explained how Earth could soon experience a 'mini ice age' in Moscow, Wednesday. Popova made her comments after a recent report was released by an international team of scientists suggesting that Earth could face the 'mini ice age' from 2030. The research project involved a number of Russian scientists, including Valentina Zharkova who presented the findings on July 9 at the Royal Astronomical Society Meeting in the Welsh town of Llandudno, and has caused a major stir amongst climatologists, Popova confirmed. Popova, who recently received her PhD in Physical and Mathematical Sciences, believes the cold snap could even last until 2050. Discussing the characteristics of the 'mini ice age', Popova said that "the most extreme theories suggest that it will resemble the Maunder minimum where rivers, which usually do not freeze, are freezing and harvest might be affected" The Maunder minimum is the name given to the period between 1645 and 1715 when Europe and North America experienced extremely cold winters as a result of prolonged low solar activity.