Nearly every planet in our solar system, including the Sun and the Earth, have undergone unexpected and strange changes in the last few years. With the exception of Mercury, all of the nine planets have had similar changes, especially in their atmospheres and temperatures. Scientists don't seem to know what is causing these differences. Stranger still is I have not seen mentioned that perhaps the changes have a common cause, and that something unexpected is happening to the entire solar system as a whole. We will start with the Sun and move outward towards the outskirts of our planetary system.
The Sun
The Sun has been acting strange lately, with a dramatic change in solar activity, solar flares, sunspots, all creating aurora on Earth where they aren't usually seen in more Southern latitudes. Aurora are an indicator that the Earth's magnetic field has been affected by solar activity, usually a flare in the x-class range or above.
Why does this matter? The Earth's magnetic field is linked to the Sun's, and what goes on in the Sun affects us here. A large enough solar storm hitting the Earth can have drastic consequences for our electrical grids. An example of this was the Carrington Event in the 1800's, which affected some of our grids, causing outages and fires.
Venus
Weird patches of darkness in the cloud layers of Venus' atmosphere have scientists confused. The dark patches may be due to odd activity on the Sun, or some kind of interior phenomenon.
Perhaps it has something to do with the possibility of recent volcanic activity detected on Venus. It is unknown as to whether the volcanic activity is recent, or just newly detectable.
Mars' Volcanic Activity
Volcanic activity on Mars has been causing a stir in the scientific community. Another planet is somehow going through unpredicted and unexpected changes, and that leaves a lot of questions. It is unclear what "recent" means in this context, it could be somewhere in the last ten thousand years, but the exact time frame is unknown. Mars has always been thought of as a dead planet, but volcanism in recent times could mean life, possibly below the surface.
Mars is Heating Up
Mars' air temperature has changed by around 1 degree Fahrenheit over the last 20 years. This slight change in average temperature can cause huge changes around the planet, increasing some large areas' albedo by 10 percent or more, create bigger dust storms, and windier climates.
Basically, this warming up is causing a lot of chaos on Mars, and instability.
Jupiter's Red Spot
Yes, even the giant Red Spot on Jupiter is undergoing changes. The Red Spot has been observed ever since the surface of Jupiter has been able to be observed with a telescope. And it has mostly stayed unchanged, until recently.
The Great Red Spot has been shrinking, and becoming more circular in shape, since 2014. The color is also changing, becoming more orange than red.
Jupiter's Weather
Not only is the Great Red Spot on Jupiter acting strange, but so is its atmosphere. Changes to the atmosphere, including temperature and color variations in different bands, are happening for some unknown reason. The changes are not due to seasons, because Jupiter doesn't have any seasons like the Earth does because of its tilt.
Saturn's Hexagon
The hexagon on Saturn's North pole changed color from blue to gold unexpectedly a few years ago. Scientists aren't sure why, but put forth ideas having to do with how much sunlight was hitting the rotating clouds at the pole that make up the hexagon.
Recently, scientist have found another layer of hexagonal vortex in the upper atmosphere, and a series of "haze layers" in the hexagons.
The mystery, apparently gets deeper and deeper…into the atmosphere.
Neptune
There have been rapid fluctuations in Neptune's temperature, especially at the poles, in the last few years. First a more gradual cooling, and then a fast uptick in the temperature by 11 degrees Celsius at the South pole.
There have been other oddities discovered, such as a large storm suddenly reversing course, and brightening of clouds in the atmosphere.
Uranus
Like Neptune, Uranus has shown the same pattern, a slower cooling over a period of 20 years or so, and then a sudden heating. The reversal in both planets is unexplained, although there are theories as to why.
Scientists have also seen an increase in number, brightness, and size of storms in the lower atmosphere.
Pluto
Pluto is the last in line in the solar system, and the mini planet is undergoing unexpected changes to its atmosphere as well.
There has been an abrupt change in the atmospheric pressure, a sharp decrease, in 2017. As with the other changes to planets in our solar system recently, scientists are unsure of the cause.
Sources:
Why Solar storms have dramatically increased aurora activity this year | BBC Science Focus Magazine
Mysterious dark patches in Venus' clouds are affecting the weather there | Astronomy.com
Volcanic Activity on Mars Upends Red Planet Assumptions — Scientific American
Hubble Captures New Changes in Jupiter's Great Red Spot | NASA
Something weird is happening in Jupiter's atmosphere | Space
Saturn's weird hexagon changes colour — BBC News
Scientists discover mysterious changes in Neptune's temperature | Science & Tech News | Sky News
What Caused the Sudden Heating of Uranus's Atmosphere? — Eos