Authors: Malcolm Colson, James Ryan

Cosmic rays have been observed and measured for over a century. Even more effort has been put into understanding our climate. Until recently, these two fields have been considered totally separate. Some scientists have said that cosmic rays contribute too little energy to affect Earth’s climate. However, others have proposed an alternative. Clouds do have a significant, established impact on weather by either trapping heat or reflecting it. Although cosmic rays have a negligible impact on the climate directly, some scientists have posited that they can affect the amount of cloud coverage. This is theoretically possible due to the ionizing power of cosmic rays. By ionizing particles in the atmosphere, cosmic rays can alter the rates of cloud production by increasing the cloud condensing nuclei. Although a great deal of work has been done regarding this possibility, the connection remains unproven. Part of the difficulty with confirming or denying this theory may stem from the fact that when people compare cosmic ray data and cloud coverage data, these data streams are coming from different locations, which adds extra degrees of freedom. At UNH, we can bypass this issue, as we have a neutron monitor at the summit of Mount Washington and we can obtain cloud data from the associated observatory.