CAN SPACE WEATHER WARM EARTH CLIMATE?

Space weather will be affecting our Earth weather the next few years. NASA has noticed a change in the sunspot orientation on the sun which indicates we are headed into a new solar cycle.

This is an 11 year period when the sun goes from a minimum to a maximum which is brighter and sends out more energy in coronal mass ejections. Right now we are at a low point but NASA observed sunspots with reversed polarity compared to the last cycle, and the dark blotches have developed at a high-latitude on the sun. These traits are hallmarks that the cycle has bottoming out and more solar storms will increase.

There is big reason to be concerned about solar storms since they can shut down satellites and blast airplanes traveling over the poles with unsafe levels of radiation. But the most controversial effect is what these blasts of plasma have on the earths climate by altering cosmic rays. Increased coronal mass ejections (CME) reduce cosmic rays that are always bombarding Earth. This energy comes from exploding stars and interacts with the Earths atmosphere to increase clouds. A Danish meteorologist ran some experiments that show clouds get reduced as (CME)'s block out cosmic rays. Henrik Svensmark thinks a reduction in cosmic rays could be linked to global warming since these particles of energy, can create charged ions in our atmosphere that attract water vapor, causing clouds to form. An earth without clouds is hotter.

Could we see even warmer temperatures during the next few years? The cycle will Peak by 2011-2012 and perhaps we will see changes. One certainty is that the Northern Lights or Auroras will be more numerous and vivid during these times. In fact during the last peak those charged ions in the sky were spotted as far south as Florida in 2002.