Galactic Cosmic Rays are a mixture of high-energy photons and sub-atomic particles accelerated toward Earth by supernova explosions and other violent events in the cosmos. Solar Cosmic Rays are effectively the same, though their source is the sun.
Spaceweather.com and the students of Earth to Sky Calculus have been launching cosmic ray balloons almost weekly since March 2015. Their results reveal atmospheric radiation is has reached record highs, just as solar activity is approaching a space age low.
During solar minimums –the low point of the 11-or-so-year solar cycle– the sun’s magnetic field weakens and the outward pressure of the solar wind decreases. This allows more cosmic rays to penetrate the inner solar system as well as our planet’s atmosphere:
Correlation: As solar activity goes down, cosmic rays go up; yin-yang.
These recent measurements come as no surprise however, as solar activity waned substantially in 2019 — so much so in fact, that a new space age record-low will be likely set on Monday… article coming soon.
THE IMPLICATIONS
When cosmic rays hit the top of Earth’s atmosphere they produce a spray of secondary particles and photons that rain down on Earth’s surface. This is what the team’s balloons measure–the secondary spray. This type of radiation, which you can also find in medical X-ray machines and airport security scanners, has increased more than 20% in the stratosphere, according to spaceweather.com data.
Cosmic rays penetrate commercial jets, delivering whole-body dosages equal to one or more dental X-rays even on regular flights across the USA. Cosmic rays pose an even greater hazard to astronauts, of course. Cosmic rays can also alter the electro-chemistry of Earth’s upper atmosphere and are thought to play some role in sparking lightning.
More crucially however, CRs hitting Earth’s atmosphere have been found to seed clouds (Svensmark et al), and cloud cover plays perhaps the most crucial role in our planet’s short-term climate change.
“Clouds are the Earth’s sunshade,” writes Dr. Roy Spencer, “and if cloud cover changes for any reason, you have global warming — or global cooling.”
The upshot of this current solar minimum (24) –the sun’s deepest of the past 100+ years (NASA)– is a cooling of the planet, with the coming solar cycle (25) forecast by NASA to be “the weakest of the past 200 years“:
And there’s a double-whammy:
POLE SHIFT
Earth’s ever-accelerating Pole Shift/Magnetic Excursion is further amplifying the Cosmic Ray situation.
We have two lines of defense against CRs — our magnetic field and our atmosphere.
Earth’s magnetosphere is waning at an increasing rate as north and south magnetic poles continue their wander, with some predictions putting a meeting point over Indonesia within the next few years.
Previous magnetic excursions and reversals have led to an uptick in volcanic and seismic activity, solar outbursts and the onset of ice ages. And, contrary to popular belief, ice age conditions can kick-in incredibly quickly — at the end of the Eemian, for example, the climate descended from a period of warmth such as today’s into full-blown glacial severity in less than twenty years (Robert Felix).
These two independent factors occurring simultaneously —Grand Solar Minimum and Pole Shift— are throwing us something of a curve-ball.
Each factor results in a dramatic waning of earth’s magnetosphere, the upshot of which is more Cosmic Rays entering our atmosphere — nucleating clouds, sending volcanoes a’poppin’, and affecting biology across the planet.
Modern civilization is entering unprecedented times.
More to follow… stay tuned for updates.
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