Tiny sunspots of today vs. the great sunspot of 1947

The Great Sunspot of March 1947 was 40 times the Earth’s diameter and the most recent huge sunspot on March 29, 2001 was 14 times larger than Earth.  Sunspots in 2010 have been only slightly larger than Earth at biggest. There is speculation that they will disappear completely within a few years, leading to very cold temperatures on Earth, similar to the 2nd part of the 17th century known as the Maunder minimum. This coincided with the “Little Ice Age” (1645-1715) and is believed to be responsible for the cold temperatures.

Picture from University of Southern California website, copyright Carnegie Institution of Washington: