Dark Winter: How the Sun Is Causing a 30-Year Cold Spell

by John Casey

Climate change has been a perplexing problem for years.  In Dark Winter , author John L. Casey, a former White House national space policy advisor, NASA headquarters consultant, and space shuttle engineer tells the truth about ominous changes taking place in the climate and the Sun. Casey’s research into the Sun’s activity, which began almost a decade ago, resulted in discovery of a solar cycle that is now reversing from its global warming phase to that of dangerous global cooling for the next thirty years or more. This new cold climate will dramatically impact the world’s citizens.  In Dark Winter , he provides evidence of the   A sobering look at Earth’s future, Dark Winter predicts worldwide, crop-destroying cold; food shortages and riots in the United States and abroad; significant global loss of life; and social, political, and economic upheaval.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Climate Change

189 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 19, 2014

About the author

John Dudley Casey was an American novelist and translator. He won the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction in 1989 for Spartina.

Reviews

[Jack Lockhart]

Salesman, yes. Scientist? No.

By Claudette Konola
Wednesday, February 25, 2015

I admire a man with a good business plan. John Casey might be that man. With a background in engineering (Jacksonville State University) and a master’s degree in business, he has leveraged a cockamamie scientific theory, not supported by any peer-reviewed science, into a book and speaking engagements. He just scored an invitation to be the keynote speaker at our Energy Forum on Friday.

Since learning about the outrage of some local scientists at the choice of speaker, I’ve been trying to find out as much as possible about the man, and how he got to be invited. For a “well respected” scientist, there is little online evidence supporting that label. There is, however, lots of evidence suggesting he is an entrepreneur looking to find the path to quick riches. He is the registered agent or chief executive officer on more than 25 companies filed with the Florida Secretary of State — most of which are not currently active.

Casey’s current employer, the Space and Science Research Center, has only a P.O. Box address. It is hard to imagine any meaningful research being done at a P.O. Box, with one staffer and two colleagues, one from Bulgaria. The site says that most of their funding comes from “donations” which are not tax deductible, and the sale of their publications, especially a quarterly newsletter at $8.95 a pop.

Casey has written two books: “Dark Winter” and “Cold Sun.” Using the “look inside” feature at Amazon Books, it appears it is the same book with two different publishers — at least the table of contents is identical.

The books have been promoted by the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, through their network of “reporters” at WatchDog.org. Wikipedia has this to say about Franklin: “According to Internal Revenue Service records, 95% of Franklin’s revenue in 2011 came from a charity called DonorsTrust. … DonorsTrust distributed US$86 million which … are private gifts and used for ‘funding sensitive or controversial issues,’ an arrangement said to obscure the identity of the donors wishing to keep their charitable giving private. Donors- Trust’s top contributors were Charles and David Koch.”

According to Pulitzer Prize winning Inside Climate News, “Today the industry persists in its campaign to muddy the picture of climate change. ExxonMobil, API and the Charles Koch Foundation for years were among the largest funders of research and lobbying intended to cast doubt on the science documenting global warming.” They made that statement in a current news story about Willie Soon, another climate denier who was investigated by Greenpeace. Through Freedom of Information requests, Greenpeace learned that Soon was industry funded, but failed to disclose that funding, or the agreement to allow the funding source to review and approve any publications pre-publication. Soon’s theory is quite similar to Casey’s: Blame it all on the sun.

In addition to claiming to be on the leading edge of climate research, Casey claims to have been a consultant to the White House, but the only evidence of that is Casey saying so in multiple press releases, and a letter he wrote to President Obama. I write letters to President Obama, yet I can’t call myself a consultant to the president, even though I’m a Democrat and I am a fan of peer-reviewed science. The only credible connection I found to any politician was to Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), a fellow climate denier.

About his claim of being a consultant to NASA: it is based on work on the space shuttle as an engineer and hosting a Space Café through another of his now inactive businesses. My ex-husband was a mechanical engineer for Martin Marietta; he worked on the external tank for the Space Shuttle. Unless Casey was a very highly placed executive in a firm like Martin Marietta, there is no way he was hired to consult with NASA. Nothing I’ve been able to find leads me to believe that Casey ever left his neighborhood, let alone was an executive in any space organization that he didn’t personally create for himself.

What I’d like to know is who made the decision to invite John L. Casey to speak at our Energy Forum. I’ve heard that when the planning committee met to discuss the agenda for the event, they were told that the list of speakers was already set in stone. Given that Colorado Mesa University is a host of the event, and given that it’s trying to establish itself as a major university, why are college officials silent on the controversy surrounding this choice of speaker? I’d ask the same question of Colorado Mountain College and the Math and Science Center, although I’ve also heard that the Math and Science Center is pretty irritated that this guy was invited without any vetting in the local scientific community.

Claudette Konola believes that climate change is the greatest security threat of our time, and gets irritated with those who want to stick their heads in the sand. She blogs occasionally at http://www.konola4colorado.com, where comments are welcome.

[Wes Allen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let me begin with the following disclaimer: There are plenty of intelligent people who disagree with the theory of global warming. While I believe it is happening, there are cogent arguments on both sides of the debate.

With that said, Dark Winter does not present cogent arguments; it presents alarm. John L Casey frequently reminds his readers that a "solar hibernation" is impending, with the potential for complete crop devastation from the frigid temperatures. Casey predicts the next solar minimum will bottom out around 2031, basing his theory (the Relational Cycle [RC] theory) off of a 206-year solar cycle. He also has the audacity to cite the RC theory at 90% accuracy after a period of only a few years. While his research is supposedly based off of 1,200 years of data, Casey continually mentions the last major solar minimum (the Dalton Minimum in the early 1800s) to the exclusion of all else. An isolated event like this is not a convincing argument. If Casey has 1,200 years worth of data, it is woefully absent from Dark Winter.

It is worth noting here that Casey does not possess a PhD, nor has he written any scientific papers of substance. He has a BA in engineering and a masters in business administration. Of course, this lack of a PhD is not damnable in itself--there are many highly intelligent people who never pass beyond a four-year college degree (for that matter, there are many intelligent people who never attend college at all). What is damnable in Dark Winter is Casey's supreme arrogance: He is often guilty of haranguing NASA, the NOAA and IPCC, all while citing from Wikipedia in his end notes. You read that correctly: Wikipedia. He also has a fun habit of citing himself and a company that he founded, the Space and Science Research Corporation (SSRC).

Casey's issue with these established scientific bodies is their acceptance of Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW). He takes particular umbrage against the IPCC, railing against what he terms the greatest scientific fraud perpetrated against the American people. The following quote from the preface is characteristic of Casey's erudition:

Climate change will no longer be used as a tool to transform America into a European-style, socialist form of government, and efforts to engage in a global redistribution of wealth through the fraudulent tool of man-made climate change will be effectively over, perhaps for good (xiii).

Over and over again, Casey hammers into his readers that there is no possible way man could be influencing the climate in a meaningful capacity; on the contrary, all climate fluctuation must be based on sun-cycles. He notes that NASA agrees with his prediction of an impending solar minimum, a time when sunspot activity will be lower than average. What some readers may miss (mostly because Casey spends maybe a sentence or two addressing it), is that NASA does not correlate low sunspot activity with low temperatures. John Casey, in his infinite wisdom, armed with the power of his MBA, bravely stands up against those pesky PhDs at NASA, informing them his research strongly correlates sunspot activity with low temperatures. What does NASA know, after all?

This review grows overlong. I've wasted enough of my time reading this excuse for a book, and now I'm wasting more writing about it. Let me leave you with this learned quote from Dark Winter's six-page, comprehensive glossary: "The warming of the globe, or 'global warming,' had stopped" (162).

[Punky Brewster · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, he sees the correlation between solar activity and Earth's climate. These guys jump to forecaster mode without looking further. Your correlation does not equal causation. EYES OPEN for the confounding variable.. What is it??? I know the Milankovitch cycles are difficult to wrap one's mind around, but this is what these guys need to be doing. The Sun does not cause volcanic activity. Orbital variation causes both volcanic activity and a change in Earth's climate. Low solar activity does indeed mean more volcanic activity. But, that does not make it the cause. grrr...

[Gerald L Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Casey's Dark Winter

Great Read! Provides information that our government does not want us to consider. I, for one, wonder why? Do you?

[Halley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Um.....I mean most of it is just references, 39 pages make up the bulk of the argument. It didn't win me over, see for yourself.

[Nathan Albright · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was loaned to me by a coworker of mine and it is certainly the sort of book that I can be trusted to read and think seriously upon, it should be noted.  As someone who is certainly skeptical about the climate change claims that are made, this book seeks to address the side of climate change that involves the strength of the sun and its possible influence upon tectonic activity that can lead to shifts between warmer and cooler weather.  While I cannot say I am sold on the idea, I do say I find it plausible and am curious to see whether the weather patterns of the period between 2020-2030 shows evidence of the global cooling that the author predicts based on long-term patterns.  A sun-caused oscillation between higher and cooler temperatures but that avoids catastrophic moves in either one or the other direction is certainly a far more realistic understanding of the world than the sort of climate panic that is being sold by many contemporaries, who forget the history of climate panic that has existed over the past few decades about both cooling and warming patterns over the short term.  

This book is a short one at about 150 pages, and that is only including three appendices that make up about 2/3 of the book's material.  The book begins with a foreword, preface, and introduction that provide a great deal of insight about where the author is coming from.  After that there are four chapters that discuss a moment of revelation that led the author to see cycles rather than unidirectional climate change as a better explanation of long-term climate data (1), an examination of what has happened in previous climate cycles (2), as well as a discussion of what we can do in the face of such patterns to avoid droughts when either cooling or heating creates difficulties for farmers and those who like to eat (3).  After that the author discusses the future and makes some testable predictions on climate change based on what the author has seen (4).  After this there are three appendices that the author uses to increase the sort of respect the author would have in his work, such as scholarly acknowledgments of the author's writing and thinking (i), a discussion of some of the leadership in climate change research (ii), as well as a look at press releases concerning global cooling (iii), after which there are notes and a glossary.

As is often the case, this book suggests that a greater historical understanding and a proper look at the relationship between the earth and sun is a better way to understand short term climate trends (the author helpfully provides his own guesses as to the next several cycles, related to the El Niño and La Niña as well as volcanic patterns) than hysteria about extreme anthropogenic climate change.  The author has some unkind things to say about those who peddle such material, but he could have been a lot more unkind if he had not been focused instead on bolstering the credibility of his own perspective.  In general, I think that the author's approach is a sound one, although I would have liked to have seen even more information than the author provided.  Anytime one wishes more from an author rather than less that is definitely something that can be seen as a good sign, and I would say that is the case here, but all the same this is definitely a book that should be seen as thought provoking and that will provide the reader with a helpful perspective that avoids panic.

[Jerry · Rating 1 out of 5]

Interesting book with an important topic. His avowed purpose is to warn the world of the coming crisis of global cooling. I'm inclined to find his predictions believable, but his book struck me as more of a publicity piece for the author's business than a serious treatment of the subject.

His theory (to quote the book):
“The Theory of Relational Cycles of Solar Activity (the RC Theory)
♦ There exists a family of solar activity cycles that has a profound and direct influence on Earth's climate.
♦ These cycles are called 'Relational Cycles,' since their effects can be experienced, or related to, during one or two human lifetimes.
♦ There is a 'Centennial Cycle' of 90 to 100 years' duration, which manifests itself in minimum solar activity and associated low temperatures, with episodes lasting a few years to one to two decades.
♦ There is a 'Bicentennial Cycle' of about 200 years that is the most powerful of the Relational Cycles and has significant effects on the climate of the Earth, lasting several decades and resulting in the most extreme variations in solar activity and in Earth's temperatures.
♦ These cycles are correlated strongly to all past major temperature lows.
♦ There is remarkable regularity, and hence predictability, among these oscillations, such that the theory may be a powerful tool in forecasting major temperature and climatic cycles on Earth, many decades in advance. There may be other Relational Cycles of shorter duration accounting for lesser solar and climatic events, which may be revealed in subsequent research.”

An alternative book I would recommend is: The Whole Story of Climate, What Science Reveals about the Nature of Endless Change by E. Kirsten Peters.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read that made me think about global warming versus global cooling; carbon credits; historic versus current solar cycles.

Read the book as the author recommended (reading an appendix after the intro).

I like learning about views that go 'against the flow'. It helps me realize that not everything disseminated to the world at large is the ultimate truth; there are different opinions, different truths; Each individual has to investigate in order to decide what to believe.

[Carlton Brown · Rating 1 out of 5]

Expectation - that's the problem i had for this book. Thankfully it did not take long to read. At its essence is the fact we're entering a period of low solar magnetic activity, and this 206 year cycle is supposed to be associated with severe planetary cooling. I found it hard to see the peer reviewed science backing up these solar cycle claims and their link with severe climate change. The book was scientifically weak, so now I'll now go look for the science.

[Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read book that exposes the attempt by liberals and their global warming agenda. Author John Casey documents evidence to the contrary. He, along with other scientists around the world, had predicted the onset of the current "solar hibernation" which is the beginning of the next phase of climate change of decades of extremely cold weather.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very interesting non-fiction book about the cycles of solar activity and what that means for earth and it's inhabitants.

The news is full of warnings about global warming, but if Mr. Casey's (and other scientists') research and hypotheses are correct we are in the beginning of a cycle of global cooling, for which we would do well to prepare.

[Kenneth Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thank him for taking the opposite view of conventional science, and putting it into words that are easy to follow and contemplate. His findings match my own study of historical events over the last 3 millennium, so I personally recommend you give it a read....

[Gina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kind of depressing. I still have a lot of questions. Does that mean there will be no summer or just not sweltering days? Wish he would have given some examples of what to expect for the different seasons.

[Maria Wroblewski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting but very repetitive. Certainly worth the read because this is credible info that the left has repressed. We are being lied to, or, at the very least, we have not been given all the info we need to make an educated decision.

[Chris · Rating 1 out of 5]

Garbage, no scientific data...urg... Waste of library time picking this up.

[Dan Jennings · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first listened to John Casey speak about the Grand Solar Minimum, I told myself, Dan, you better check this out. And man, anything I read, or listen to on the net that seems to be important, does require you to look it up. I had heard about GSM before on YouTube but the guy who runs that channel didn't always give the correct information. That's when I started looking for John Casey..

I made sure to get an Extra Copy of Mr Casey's Book, so everyone could read up on everything John had been talking about. The guys have been working as 2-Family Teams. They started to do that going by Who lived closer to Who...

When Casey explained when this Solar Minimum started, I made sure to look everything up to see exactly where we're at time-wise. I had found that this one should end right around the 2032-2034 time period, which was what I remember John Casey saying, I started to check out how it lined up with us here in Michigan. What I noticed here in Michigan was pretty much lining up to what Mr Casey had said, I made sure to talk about it with each of our 4 Adult Children. My Daughter and I are extremely In-Tune when it comes to important matters such as the GSM. We came up with a Game-Plan for who would buy what, deciding what we should stock up on first and so far it's been working out great.

Now as far as our 3 Sons, 2 of them wanted to do more research on this GSM, only because they had never heard of it before. Now although they've been a lot slower to get their Houses in Order, they still get it, Thank God, so as of 2020/2021, even with that crap from 2020, everybody's on the same page. I know we're pretty late getting started but hey, we're All-In & things have been working out Good with our Entire Family.

We have tried to keep it as simple as we can. We don't Broadcast it to our Neighborhoods, We keep Everything Tight & We have Worked On Sticking To The Plan... I am Amazed With Just How Well Things have been Working Out... We've gotten a lot closer over the past 3 years, which is another thing I'm glad of. Each Family Has Taken it Serious Enough To Keep Their Priorities Straight & Although They All Know That Their Mother & I are there to help If They Need It, All 4 Of Our Children Are Holding Their Own......

[Mike Lisanke · Rating 1 out of 5]

I brief book that spends much of its time telling us our warm moment on Earth's end is nigh! That he discovered this with his superior climate science. That we should all listen to him and learn to build hobbit houses in warmer latitudes and Not rely on governments to save us. On the last point, I'd always agree. But the author put all of his backup material in appendixes... a way of saying, don't bother to read this. And spends most of the book expounding on only he has seen a 200 year cycle for extreme cold of a Dark Winter about to befall us. Maybe he has or hasn't (is or isn't). But this isn't the science book I'd want to use to understand Global Solar Minimum. And yes I think it will occur soon and we'll all experience (as a modern electric-grid society) a Big Change.

[Carol · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was disappointed on several levels. One: I expected more from a "professional" in this field. Two: there was little substance in the book and many of the "facts" about global warming were quite honestly, not facts. John did not offer any backing for the suggestion that we are in for an imminent ice age, only his speculations. His suggestions go against research done by the United States meteorological website (ironically NASA instituted). Sorry John, but global warming is real and yes, we will have another ice age, but not within the next 20 years. And if the sun deteriorates to the extent that you contend, earth will not exist at all, in any capacity.

[Collin Rijnvis · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a person very interested and familiar with the subject of climate change, I find this book very welcoming. Every point of view with a valid scientific base should be available for the public and being used in the discussion.

What I don’t like about the book is the somewhat ‘alarmism’ about a coming ice age. In my opinion there already is too much alarmism in the discussion about climate change. Also, there are quite some papers on sunspot cycles which are much less sure about the magnitude of a possible ice age event.

All in all a nice read and certainly a must read for everybody interested in the matter of climate change.

[Valerie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good information we need to know, but could have been more concise and to the point, in other words a nice paper, not necessarily a book, albeit a short one. It was supposedly written for the "lay person". but for this "lay person", it had a hard time keeping my interest, and I ended up skimming much of it. Also, it was published in 2014, with data from 2011 and 2012, so I kept wondering if any of his predictions hold water.

[Deb · Rating 1 out of 5]

Self-congratulatory little book.
Author cites himself several times as a source.
The premise is interesting and is one I am somewhat familiar with however, there were no real data cited other than the author's web research.
Also, and this is just a personal opinion, there were so many instances of the author using the word "I" that once noticed, it was impossible to ignore and somewhat distracting.

[Patti Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally a book exposing the truth about the climate farce! Refreshing to hear someone talk about how the sun is responsible for changes in temperature and climate as opposed to the bs of blaming it on carbon. The fact that our governments are trying to stop reliable energy use of natural gases and oil and pushing wind, solar and electric power does cause one to believe they are backing a genocidal agenda given that our planet is entering a dangerous cooling period!

[james k pryles · Rating 3 out of 5]

A must read for all interested in climate change.

Definitely will make one pause and reflect. Should be required reading for every politician. As the Beatles said... Here comes the Sun.

[Diane · Rating 2 out of 5]

A scientific book that is short and kinda interesting. The author repeats himself quite a lot. And I wish he had more readable charts to document his conclusions. Time will tell if he is correct in predicting many cold, frozen years ahead.

[Matthew Lowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

It confirms the real science behind climate change and exposes what we should really be concerned about. Worth the read.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read that Casey backs up with the proof of his study. He says we are coming into a cycle of cold weather caused by lack of sun spots and he calls it the "solar hibernation".

[Eileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

To sum up this book in one sentence, it is the SUN, not man, that is responsible for climate change!

[Murray Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

What has lasr 10 years of data shown?

What has happened between the books publication and now? More new data needed to update the book and make it relavent today!

[The_J · Rating 3 out of 5]

More dated than I anticipated, but even with a decade under its belt the premise is not proven, but holds up better than the Climate Alarmists' claims, such as Gore's an Inconvenient truth.

[Cherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read ithen u will understand the true meaning of climate change & be left wandering why the government’s are lying too US &not giving people a fighting chance 🤬🤬