Cosmic Ray Theory Verified by CERN

Timothy Birdnow

The CERN particle accelerator has shown that, yes indeed, cosmic rays do indeed drive the formation of clouds and aerosols.
http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/46953

According to the article:

"However, when simulating the atmosphere higher up, the researchers found a stronger cosmic-ray effect. They discovered that at altitudes of 5 km or more, where temperatures are below –25 °C, sulphuric acid and water can readily form stable aerosols of a few nanometres across and that cosmic rays can increase the rate of aerosol production by a factor of 10 or more"

End excerpt.

This article takes great pains to keep the whole "man did it" claim in play, despite the fact that this really damages the claims of the Global Warming alarmists.

Here is what I found interesting:

"To their surprise, the researchers found that when simulating the atmosphere just a kilometre above the Earth's surface, sulphuric acid, water and ammonia – the components generally believed to initiate aerosol production – were not on their own enough to generate the quantities of aerosols observed in the real atmosphere, falling short by a factor of up to a thousand, even when the pion beam was switched on. They conclude that other molecules must also play a role, and say that an organic compound or compounds are most likely.

As Kirkby explains, if the missing substance is manmade, then human pollution could be having a larger cooling effect than is currently believed (emissions of sulphur dioxide are already known to generate the sulphuric acid that is vital for aerosol production). Otherwise, says Kirkby, if the missing substance comes from a natural source, the finding could imply the existence of a new climate feedback mechanism (possibly, he adds, higher temperatures increasing organic emissions from trees)."

End excerpt.

Needless to say the article pushes the whole "manmade missing substance" angle, rather than conclude that we have a sizable chunk of theory wrong.

But if pollution is causing aerosol production, then are we going to have the "Global Cooling" panic return? It seems likely that they are going to try to resurrect this old party favor from the age of disco.

Let's hope bell-bottom jeans and leisure suits don't return as well!

Any way you slice it, these experiments have substantiated Dr. Svensmark's theory of cosmic rays acting as a driver of climate (and the sun) while damaging the AGW crowd's absolute faith in CO2 as the principle driver.