East Oregonian Publishing Group file photo Snow surveyors Dave Hart, left, and Frank Gehrke, measure the Sierra snowpack near Echo Summit in California. The California Department of Water Resources' last survey earlier this year showed the lowest readings since 1988.

Forget global warming.

Starting around 2022, the earth could see an extended cooling trend. But that doesn’t mean people should stop worrying about climate change just yet, said Portland hydrologist and meteorologist Kyle Dittmer – it just might buy more time to slow its potentially disastrous effects, he said.

“If we get a cooling trend a few years before that, this might save us from going over the cliff,” said Dittmer, a scientist with the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission. “I’m not sure we can do this just on our own actions. With a little help from Mother Nature, we might be able to get there.”

In fact, the reason for the possible cool-down lies outside the planet. Solar activity has slowed to some of its lowest recorded levels in recent years, and NASA predicts a similarly weak cycle to peak near 2022 – then start declining, possibly cooling the earth for several years.

However, solar activity has no effect on greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, Dittmer said. Carbon dioxide content will still be dangerously high, but lower temperatures could slow the resulting effects. Basically, it could counteract the recent warming trend, he said, and possibly absorb some excess CO2 through cooler oceans.

Dittmer said a similar trend occurred in second half of the 17th century, leading to a “mini ice age” that caused harsh winters in Europe and North America for about 70 years. Solar activity has been noticeably weak this year as well, he said. Not a single sunspot was observed last month, which could mean another “la niña” event similar to this year’s unusually cool winter and spring, he said.

Even with a possible temperature reversal on the horizon, people shouldn’t take it as a chance to let nature do all the work, Dittmer said; rather, they should use it as a window of opportunity.

“There are some actions that can be taken, and there are some natural cycles out there that could work to our advantage,” he Dittmer said. “Sitting back and doing nothing is not an option.”