The Global Hot and Cold Mixing Tap

There must be something in the air. Since I posted this morning Coffee House referenced an article by the FT which highlights some serious research that raises questions about the present orthodoxy.

But new research now seems to be backing up Svensmark’s theory. Dr. Svensmark and his team undertook an elaborate laboratory experiment in a reaction chamber the size of a small room. The team duplicated the chemistry of the lower atmosphere by injecting the gases found there in the same proportions, and adding ultraviolet rays to mimic the actions of the sun.

Result: a huge number of floating microscopic droplets quickly filled the chamber. These were super-small clusters of sulphuric acid and water molecules – which are the building blocks for cloud condensation nuclei - that had been catalysed by the electrons released by cosmic rays.

The point? The research experimentally identified a causal mechanism by which cosmic rays can facilitate the production of clouds in Earth's atmosphere. This does not disprove the existence of greenhouse gases and the greenhouse effect. But it does challenge the “man-only” theory, and suggests that the IPCC should consider the effect of cosmic particles in examining climate dynamics. Or, at least, accept that there is a long way to go before we fully understand climate dynamics and who plays what role.

So the jury is out - as it should be, but we should make a careful assessment of the science before we allow our politicians to make bonehead decisions, such as Gordon Brown legislating for the compulsory use of bio-fuel at the very moment it became apparent that this is a social and environmental clanger.