CERN's 8,000 scientists may not be able to find the hypothetical Higgs boson, but they have made an important contribution to climate physics, prompting climate models to be revised.

The first results from the lab's CLOUD ("Cosmics Leaving OUtdoor Droplets") experiment published in Nature today confirm that cosmic rays spur the formation of clouds through ion-induced nucleation. Current thinking posits that half of the Earth's clouds are formed through nucleation. The paper is entitled Role of sulphuric acid, ammonia and galactic cosmic rays in atmospheric aerosol nucleation.

This has significant implications for climate science because water vapour and clouds play a large role in determining global temperatures. Tiny changes in overall cloud cover can result in relatively large temperature changes.

Unsurprisingly, it's a politically sensitive topic, as it provides support for a "heliocentric" rather than "anthropogenic" approach to climate change: the sun plays a large role in modulating the quantity of cosmic rays reaching the upper atmosphere of the Earth.

CERN's director-general Rolf-Dieter Heuer warned his scientists "to present the results clearly but not interpret them". Readers can judge whether CLOUD's lead physicist Jasper Kirkby has followed his boss's warning.

"Ion-induced nucleation will manifest itself as a steady production of new particles that is difficult to isolate in atmospheric observations because of other sources of variability but is nevertheless taking place and could be quite large when averaged globally over the troposphere."

Kirkby is quoted in the accompanying CERN press release:
"We've found that cosmic rays significantly enhance the formation of aerosol particles in the mid troposphere and above. These aerosols can eventually grow into the seeds for clouds. However, we've found that the vapours previously thought to account for all aerosol formation in the lower atmosphere can only account for a small fraction of the observations – even with the enhancement of cosmic rays."

Climate models will have to be revised, confirms CERN in supporting literature (pdf):
"It is clear that the treatment of aerosol formation in climate models will need to be substantially revised, since all models assume that nucleation is caused by these vapours [sulphuric acid and ammonia] and water alone.

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/08/25/cern_cloud_cosmic_ray_first_results/

GORE ASKS SUPPORTERS TO DONATE TWITTER & FACEBOOK ACCOUNTS TO CLIMATE CAMPAIGN

Al Gore's Climate Reality Project has asked their online supporters to donate for one day their Twitter and Facebook accounts to the campaign. The apparent goal on September 14 is to flood the social media networks of supporters with coordinated messages pegged to a 24 hour multimedia event and Internet broadcast. As advertised, the event features a day of presentations by Gore linking climate catastrophe to the efforts of Big Oil, Big Coal, and climate deniers.

https://pajamasmedia.com/tatler/2011/08/26/gores-plan-to-spam-the-social-media-universe/