Down to Earth Blog

What's the Real Story Here? This week we have a story on AOL about the latest scientific experiments regarding cosmic rays and climate change ("Cosmic Rays Linked to Global Warming"). The gist is that cosmic rays bombarding the Earth help form clouds low in the atmosphere; the clouds block sunlight and thus cool the planet. A new paper from scientists in Denmark seems to support the impact the rays have on climate; not all scientists agree, however, as the article points out.

Interestingly, when I took a look at the RealClimate.org site ("Climate science from climate scientists"), I found they had some commentary about the cosmic ray paper -- see "Taking Cosmic Rays for a Spin." In it they deconstruct this cosmic ray experiment (and point out the things it does not prove) and especially the scientists' claims that their experiment can explain the weather and climate change for the last 200 years.

I agree that it's a shame when scientists write sensational press releases to garner  headlines to draw attention to their work. In this case, it paid for me to dig a bit deeper and see what this story was all about.

The UK's Register notes that a new experiment has just begun at CERN, which will use a particle acclerator to probe the mysteries of cosmic rays and clouds even further.

What do you think about all this?

Technorati Tags: Cosmic Rays, Climate Change, Global Warming, RealClimate, Henrik Svensmark

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