The Chilling Stars: The New Theory of Climate Change
The Chilling Stars: The New Theory of Climate Change – Review
This book appeared to my attention at just the right time. After having widely read “Under a Green Sky” by Peter Ward, I was concerned that mankind was precipatating a global ecological catastrophe by accidentally unleashing great amounts of carbon dioxide and other green house gasses, which purportedly has eventually brought about global warming. Svensmark, with Calder, explain that the international temperature is much more deeply affected by cloud contain across the planet, than by greenhouse gasses. And to compound matters, they assert, and clearly substantiate, the shape of clouds is significantly controlled by great energy cosmic rays making the junior height of the atmosphere where clouds form. On a spectacular tour of various disciplines, the authors span interrelated areas of particle physics, cloud droplet formation, the Sun’s journey through the galaxy, and the description of variations in the Earth’s climate with local global conditions. Along the way, we are usually treated to an inside view of an important scientific and political controversy as it unfolds. In the end, the book all but quite succeeds in entirely convincing the reader that great energy cosmic rays are the only important variable in accurately determining our climate. Among the issues the book overlooks or minimizes, is the coincidental timing of anthropogenic issue of high amounts of carbon dioxide, and the simultaneous rise in international temperatures over the past hundred years. Perhaps they will address this and other contrary indicators in a future edition, but for now, I have to give the book major credit for currently providing some greatly needed perspective over the fear-mongering and misinformation which besets this main subject.