Red Planet heating up in step with our own
In 1997, NASA's Mars Global Surveyor mission began transmitting data back from the Red Planet. Almost immediately, it was noted the planet was experiencing rapid warming, similar to what the Earth is currently undergoing. In 2001, two separate research papers were published detailing the situation. At the time, though, there was only a few years of observational data to work with, and the trend was hard to spot.
Fast-forward to today. The warming on Mars has not only continued -- it has accelerated. The Martian icecaps are melting at a perilous pace. Habibullo Abdussamatov, head of the St. Petersburg Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory in Russia, says the simultaneous warming of Earth and Mars is no coincidence, and that both can be explained by changes in solar irradiance. National Geographic has a hit piece on the research, with a counter-claim by Colin Wilson that the warming is due to wobbles in the Martian orbit.
Abdussamatov's claims tie in nicely with recent research by Professor Eigil Friis-Christensen of the Danish Space Center, which correlates Earth's warming not to greenhouse gases, but to changes in cloud formation due to solar activity increases. His research is the focus of a new documentary, currently being carried on Channel 4 in the U.K.
To climate physicist Henrik Svensmark, this is nothing new. In fact, he's recently written a book on the subject, which details his research team's findings that link solar activity to reduced cloud formation on Earth. Less cloud cover lowers planetary albedo, and leads to a warmer Earth.
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