Dear Michael,
Can we, or would we want to, increase or decrease cosmic rays entering
our atmosphere? Can we geoengineer this?
Sincerely,
Oliver Wingenter
On 9/17/2011 5:24 PM, Michael Hayes wrote:
Hi Folks,
Dr. Latham, with the greatest respect, please allow me to bring
something to the table which I believe is relevant. Andrew asked for
some needed changes and I thank him for giving an opportunity to
polish this up.
In a way, cosmic rays _/may/_ play a role in CCN. R.G. Harrison (and
others) covers how cosmic rays energize the ionosphere which then
affects cloud formation. I have attached his paper for review. The
main quote in the abstract is:
*"Cosmic rays are the principal source of atmospheric ions away from
the continental boundary layer: the ions formed permit a vertical
conduction current to flow in the fair weather part of the global
circuit. Through the (inverse) solar modulation of cosmic rays, the
resulting columnar ionisation changes may allow the global circuit to
convey a solar influence to meteorological phenomena of the lower
atmosphere. Electrical effects on non-thunderstorm clouds have been
proposed to occur via the ionassisted formation of ultrafine aerosol,
which can grow to sizes able to act as cloud condensation nuclei, or
through the increased ice nucleation capability of charged aerosols."*
There is a Google Earth like website which you can watch the
ionosphere in practical real time which was developed for companies
dealing with polar radio transmissions. Here is the link.
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2008/30apr_4dionosphere/
For those interested in a broad overview of research interests in the
area of atmospheric electrical effects on climate I have attached a
paper by E.R. Williams (GlobCir.pdf). Here is the abstract:
*"Research topics on the global electrical circuit are addressed that
have received attention in recent*
**
*years. These topics include the diurnal variation of the global
circuit, surface measurements of*
**
*electric*
*field at high latitude, the annual variation, the semiannual
variation, the role of lightning as*
**
*a source for the global circuit, the electrical contribution of
mesoscale convective systems, the*
**
*possible effect of thunderstorms on the E and F regions of the
ionosphere, the evidence for a global*
**
*circuit impact from nuclear weapons tests, the controversy over
long-term variations, the response*
**
*to climate change, and*
*finally the impact of the global circuit on climate."*
Although C.T.R. Willson began the modern investigation of atmospheric
electrical phenomenon, it has been only the last few decades that
the broader aspects have been looked at and even today there is much
to understand. On page 149 (col 2), in an indirect way, Williams
points out the potential for this field of work to eventually provide
a means for tracking global warming due to:
*"On many time scales, abundant evidence has accumulated that the
global circuit should amplify with increasing temperature"*
Williams goes on to explain the needed work to realize that aspect and
to more fully understand the cause and effect of climate change on the
global circuit and vice verse.
Having a global means for tracking climate change could help long term
climate engineering efforts for obvious reasons. In section 12,
Williams points out the efforts of Harrison and Tensley in
investigating if the global circuit can effect climate change. This
field needs more attention.
Thanks,
Michael
>
>
>
> On Fri, Aug 26, 2011 at 11:06 AM, John Latham <
> [email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
>
>> Hello All,
>>
>> This is an interesting and careful study, which I strongly
suspect will
>> turn out to be irrelevant to geo-engineering (or natural clouds)..
>>
>> Atmospheric clouds form, in an unstable atmosphere, when the
relative
>> humidity in a rising parcel or plume of moist air increases (as a
>> consequence of cooling and expansion) to 100%. Except in very
special
>> circumstances there are always particles (cloud condensation
nuclei,
>> CCN). on which cloud droplets will be activated. Usually, there are
>> many more aerosol on which droplets are not activated, because the
>> favoured ones have lower activation thresholds. The cosmic ray
>> generated particles will have extremely fierce competition re
droplet
>> activation, and as the authors point out, they are very small
and so
>> unlikely to be strong candidates for activation.authors of the
paper
>> surmise
>>
>> If I remember correctly [always doubtful] CTR Wilson did some
>> beautiful experiments - almost 100 years ago - on cloud
>> condensation nuclei in his cloud chamber, and found that the
passage
>> of cosmic rays through the supersaturated environment produced
>> small droplets: But this occurred only when all aerosol
particles had
>> rained out, so the supersaturation was much higher than occurs is
>> natural clouds..
>>
>> Cheers, John.
>>
>>
>> John Latham
>> Address: P.O. Box 3000,MMM,NCAR,Boulder,CO 80307-3000
>> Email: [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> or
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
>> Tel: (US-Work) 303-497-8182 <tel:303-497-8182> or (US-Home)
303-444-2429 <tel:303-444-2429>
>> or (US-Cell) 303-882-0724 <tel:303-882-0724> or (UK) 01928-730-002
>> http://www.mmm.ucar.edu/people/latham
>> ________________________________________
>> From: [email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>
[[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>] on
>> behalf of Andrew Lockley [[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>]
>> Sent: Friday, August 26, 2011 6:07 PM
>> To: geoengineering
>> Subject: [geo] Cloud condensation nuclei research
>>
>> doi:10.1038/news.2011.504
>>
>> http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110824/full/news.2011.504.html
>>
>> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14637647
>>
>> Results from an experiment built to study how clouds form
suggests that our
>> knowledge of this subject may need to be revised, Nature
journal reports.
>>
>> Tiny particles (aerosols) form the basis of the "seeds" from
which clouds
>> grow.
>>
>> These seeds form when sulphuric acid and ammonia molecules
cluster together
>> - and cosmic rays may help this happen.
>>
>> But these ingredients create only a tiny fraction of the cloud
seeds formed
>> in the atmosphere.
>>
>> The result surprised Dr Jasper Kirkby who led the research. He
told BBC
>> News: "We've shown sulphuric acid and ammonia can't account for
nucleation
>> (the very early stages of cloud seed formation) observed in the
lower
>> atmosphere.
>>
>> "We've found that this can only account for a tenth to a
thousandth of the
>> rate that's observed. So it's clear from this first set of
measurements that
>> our present treatment of aerosols in climate models needs to be
revised
>> quite a lot."
>>
>> Professor Mike Lockwood of Reading University, UK, concurs:
"Something
>> else, as yet unknown, is helping enhance the nucleation rates
there.
>> Depending on its source, this could even be unexpected additional
>> (human-caused) climate forcing or feedback effect (on the
climate)," he
>> explained.
>>
>> The aim of the study is to create a better understanding of how
clouds form
>> and in particular the role of cosmic rays. Dr Kirkby said that
the work will
>> lead to better computer models of how the Earth's climate is
influenced by
>> clouds.
>>
>> "Even though aerosols and clouds are very important (in climate
modelling)
>> the basic numbers haven't been measured properly and we're
doing that," he
>> said.
>>
>> The so-called Cloud experiment is based at the European
Organization for
>> Nuclear Research (Cern), just outside Geneva. It consists of a
large
>> stainless steel chamber filled with highly purified air into which
>> scientists can infuse trace amounts of the vapours they believe
to be
>> involved in the formation of aerosols that can grow to become
cloud seeds.
>>
>> Cosmic role
>>
>> A beam of particles from one of Cern's particle accelerators
provides a
>> controllable source of artificial cosmic rays.
>>
>> Clouds play an important part in determining global
temperatures as they
>> reflect a proportion of the Sun's heat back into space.
However, the
>> formation of the aerosols that seed clouds is not well
understood and is a
>> source of uncertainty in climate models.
>>
>> In particular, researchers want to understand the precise role
played by
>> cosmic rays. These are charged sub-atomic particles that hit
the Earth's
>> atmosphere from space. These create more charged particles -
which may
>> enhance the formation of cloud seeds.
>>
>> The first results from the Cloud experiment at Cern show that
cosmic rays
>> cause a ten-fold increase in the formation rate of
nanometre-sized aerosol
>> particles. However, Dr Kirkby stressed that these particles are
still far
>> too small to seed clouds and so it is premature to conclude
that cosmic rays
>> have a significant influence on climate.
>>
>> The number of cosmic rays that hit the Earth is reduced when
the Sun's
>> activity is high. It has been proposed that reduced cosmic rays
may lead to
>> reduced cloud formation, causing global temperatures to rise.
>>
>> Some climate change "sceptics" claim that this process, rather
than the
>> burning of fossil fuels, can explain much of the Earth's recent
rise in
>> temperature.
>>
>> Climate scientists point out that there is evidence to show
that the
>> sustained rise in global temperatures over the past 15 years
cannot be
>> explained by cosmic ray activity. They also point to a vast
body of research
>> pointing to rising carbon dioxide (CO2) levels to be the cause.
According to
>> Professor Lockwood, it is very unlikely that variations in
cosmic rays have
>> played a significant role in recent warming.
>>
>> "The result that will get climate change sceptics excited is
that they have
>> found that through the influence of sulphuric acid, ionisation
can enhance
>> the rate of water droplet growth. Does this mean that cosmic
rays can
>> produce cloud? No," he told BBC News.
>>
>> Many arguments
>>
>> Professor Lockwood says that the air-induced aerosols only grew
to about 2
>> nanometres. To influence incoming or outgoing radiation to
Earth, droplets
>> must be of the order of 100 nanometres (nm). The growth rates
would be
>> really slow from 2 to 100nm because there simply is not enough
sulphuric
>> acid in the atmosphere.
>>
>> "There are a great many arguments as to why the cosmic ray
cloud effect is
>> not a major driver of climate change and these results do not
yet impinge on
>> those arguments," he said.
>>
>> Nevertheless, it seems that air ions generated by cosmic rays
can helping
>> cloud formation get started. Neither the role of aerosols or
the effects of
>> cosmic rays are well understood and this limits the ability of
computer
>> models to predict how the Earth's climate will change.
>>
>> The Cloud experiment is aiming to settle these questions.
>>
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>>
>
>
> --
> *Michael Hayes*
> *360-708-4976 <tel:360-708-4976>*
> http://www.voglerlake.com
--
/Michael Hayes/
/360-708-4976/
http://www.voglerlake.com
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--
Oliver Wingenter
Assoc. Prof. of Chemistry
Research Scientist
Geophysical Research Center
New Mexico Tech
801 Leroy Place
Socorro, NM 87801
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