CERN Cloud Paper: Cirrus-ly Being Spun

Many spinsters who do not accept the fact that human emissions of heat-trapping gases are causing dangerous climate change have latched on to a new paper about the influence of galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) on clouds as proof that the world is being warmed by natural causes and not by human activities.  These folks are cirrus-ly mistaken.

The lead author of the paper Dr. Jasper Kirkby, spoke about his paper in a Nature podcast.  Peter Sinclair makes the podcast available at From the Horse’s Mouth: The New Study on Cosmic Rays and Climate.

In that podcast Dr. Jasper Kirkby states:

“…at the moment (the research) actually says nothing about the effect of comsic rays on clouds and thus climate, but it is an important first step.”

My colleague, Dr. Christian Shorey, summed up the podcast this way:

“His research can’t be used as a direct link to climate because the nucleii he is creating/sampling is at the nanometer scale, and thus too small to cause cloud nucleation.”

Of course, the true test is the real world.  The GCR hypothesis would mean that we should be seeing more cloud cover and cooling in the past 30 years.  Instead, the planetary system is getting warmer and warmer.  So much for the GCR hypothesis.

On a recent radio show, I was asked about this paper.  Listen to what I said.

GCRs or no GCRs, the CO2 that we keep pumping into the air everyday traps heat and that CO2 is not going to go away for a very long time.

Updated 09/02/11