I found my source to be an interesting read. It takes us off the planet where we tend to argue endlessly about carbon dioxide like its the only variable that can possibly explain our recent climate. One of the more interesting passages I found was this one:
“In a more recent study, Coryn Bailer-Jones [14] considers the following list of possible extraterrestrial climatic influences:
* Asteroid or comet impacts that cause dust and sulfates to cool the globe or even eject the atmosphere.
* Supernova and gamma ray bursts that release large amounts of energy in the form of hard x-rays or cosmic rays, which ionize the atmosphere, destroy the ozone layer and change atmospheric chemistry to absorb visible Solar radiation, thereby cooling the planet.
* Solar system’s encounter with giant molecular clouds that inject cosmic dust into Earth’s atmosphere, lowering Solar irradiation and cooling the planet or concomitantly fueling the Sun, raising its luminosity, and increasing Earth’s precipitation, which triggers an ice age.
* Solar system’s crossing the galactic spiral arms, exposes it to greater cosmic ray flux.
* Solar system’s crossing the galactic plane, which exposing Earth to greater cosmic ray flux.
* Solar system’s radial motion with respect to the galactic center.
* Sun’s varying electromagnetic flux and cosmic ray flux in the solar wind, which mediates galactic cosmic ray flux, controls cloud formation and cools the planet.
* Variations in Earth’s orbit about the Sun.
There are some concepts in there that I haven’t really heard being discussed here. And there are pretty good references at the end of the article.
Do you think this article could give you pause for thought regarding the natural influences on the Earth’s climate?
Note: Link to follow soon….
http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Cosmology-Climate-Connection-How-Extraterrestrial-Forces-Influence-The-Weather
Ozoneguy, I’m a little surprised at part of your answer given your name. First, gamma ray bursts are detectable. One hits every single day and this is being closely monitored. http://heasarc.nasa.gov/docs/swift/swiftsc.html
Second, gamma ray bursts do indeed destroy ozone. Perhaps you think that because it’s an ionizing radiation that it builds ozone molecules. Well it has much higher energy than that and creates another process which destroys ozone: “Gamma rays, a high-energy form of light, can break molecular nitrogen (N2) into nitrogen atoms, which react with molecular oxygen (O2) to form nitric oxide (NO). NO will destroy ozone (O3) and produce nitrogen dioxide (NO2). NO2 will then react with atomic oxygen to reform NO. More NO means more ozone destruction.” http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/starsgalaxies/gammaray_extinction.html
I meant gamma ray bursts are present and detectable.
