And it’s instructive that the middle line, which shows the actual number of sunspots, has been moving straight to the right, rather than curving up, since early 2008. NASA predicted that the number of sunspots would start increasing at the end of 2007, because that’s what had happened for the previous 10 cycles, or so. They had to keep moving that ‘trending up’ line to the right, every month that the sunspots didn’t return. We’ve gone almost two years without any appreciable amount of sunspots, and though this new cycle has begun, the number of sunspots has been anemic, at best. That ‘trending up’ line, might stay more level, than not, for a while, in which case, this could mean a Solar Minimum.
I would not be surprised if this cycle finally peaks at less than 40 before heading back down, which would signal us being in something closer to the Maunder Minimum. If that happens (around 2013) be prepared for some extreme ugliness as the world experiences massive crop failures and famine.