Is There a Link Between Cosmic Rays and Global Warming?
As you might know, I’ve got a side job blogging over at Wired Science on their space beat. I just posted an article there about new research that refutes a possible connection between global warming and cosmic rays.
The theory is that cosmic rays create ions in the atmosphere, forming the seeds that build into water droplets. If true, that would help explain global warming as a natural phenomenon, where increased cosmic rays create clouds to cool the planet. When the 11-year solar cycle is at its maximum, cosmic rays are pushed away from the Earth, and temperatures rise. No humans causing global warming.
Except we are.
A new presentation at the 30th International Cosmic Ray Conference by researchers from the UK tears holes in this theory, refuting it on several levels.
Recent Posts
Starlink on Mars? NASA Is Paying SpaceX to Look Into the Idea
NASA has given the go-ahead for SpaceX to work out a plan to adapt its…
Did You Hear Webb Found Life on an Exoplanet? Not so Fast…
The JWST is astronomers' best tool for probing exoplanet atmospheres. Its capable instruments can dissect…
Vera Rubin’s Primary Mirror Gets its First Reflective Coating
First light for the Vera Rubin Observatory (VRO) is quickly approaching and the telescope is…
Two Stars in a Binary System are Very Different. It's Because There Used to be Three
A beautiful nebula in the southern hemisphere with a binary star at it's center seems…
The Highest Observatory in the World Comes Online
The history of astronomy and observatories is full of stories about astronomers going higher and…
Is the JWST Now an Interplanetary Meteorologist?
The JWST keeps one-upping itself. In the telescope's latest act of outdoing itself, it examined…