Terrible article, as usual from the BBC when it comes to science. There was a session at the last AGU meeting about the solar cycle which is more informative:

Terrible article, as usual from the BBC when it comes to science. There was a session at the last AGU meeting about the solar cycle which is more informative: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIhBEF94YlM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIhBEF94YlM The discussion there contradicts the idea that scientists are suddenly 'baffled' by this. Some groups predicted the current low cycle based on the polar magnetic fields, and it seems like they are being proven right. Also it looks like there might be a ~100 year cycle but obviously we have to wait quite a long time to really say anything certain about that. We have measurements for solar cycles this low in the past, so we know it isn't unprecedented. It just hasn't happened in our lifetimes.