Win a holiday
Enter our Snapshots of Summer photography competition
Navigation - link to other main sections from here
Nasa images show climate change from space
Also in Science News
Also in UK News
Times Recommends
Nobel Laureate Symposium
The Climate Challenge
Most Read
Skip Most ReadToday
- Saudis give nod to Israeli raid on Iran
- The 50 Best Movie Villains
- Crazy Sunday afternoon leaves heroic Andy...
- Iran clerics declare election invalid and...
Focus Zone
Northern Lights:
Win a luxury weekend to Newcastle and its neighbour Gateshead, find out more here
Business Solutions:
Risk, resilience and embracing new technology
Need to Know:
Industry sectors news at a glance. Interactive heatmap, video and podcast
Business Wisdom:
Discover the power of collective thinking. Submit a solution and be in with a chance to win a Media Hub Home Entertainment System
Social Entrepreneurs:
The inside track on current trends in the charity, not for profit and social enterprise sectors
Business Travel:
Everything the Business Traveller needs to know to make a better trip
Great British Summer :
Make the most of the summer and enter our fabulous photographic competition, you could win a £5000 holiday
Corsica Travel:
Corsica is an island of beauty and contrast, an ideal holiday destination
More reports:
Enjoy further reading from Travel to Fashion, Business to Sport, discover more
Popular Searches on Times Online
Shortcuts to help you find sections and articles
Cars
Skip Cars of the Week
The clever way to lease a new car is with Car leasing made simple™
2009
per month on 36-month
Personal Contract Hire (PCH)
2008
42850
Car Insurance
Jobs
Skip Jobs of the Week
£24,250 - £30,346
MI5
London
£60,000
The Environment Agency
Bristol
Up to £90K
Boots
Midlands
OTE £85k
Credit Protection Association
Nationwide Opportunities
Properties
Completely London
Luxury Condo's in Manhattan with NYC views
The best new homes in Wimbledon?
Nationwide
Holidays
Skip Travel of the Week
Fabulous Cruise And Cruise & Stay Offers Including Virgin Atlantic Flights Prices Start From Only £699pp!
Last Minute Cruise And Cruise & Stay Offers. Med From £499pp, Caribbean From £699pp!
5 star quality at a 3 star price.
8 fabulous Canadian cities ...you won’t find cheaper
Contact our advertising team for advertising and sponsorship in Times Online, The Times and The Sunday Times, or place your advertisement.
Times Online Services: Dating | Jobs | Property Search | Used Cars | Holidays | Births, Marriages, Deaths | Subscriptions | E-paper
News International associated websites: Globrix Property Search | Property Finder | Milkround
Copyright 2009 Times Newspapers Ltd.
This service is provided on Times Newspapers' standard Terms and Conditions. Please read our Privacy Policy.To inquire about a licence to reproduce material from Times Online, The Times or The Sunday Times, click here.This website is published by a member of the News International Group. News International Limited, 1 Virginia St, London E98 1XY, is the holding company for the News International group and is registered in England No 81701. VAT number GB 243 8054 69.
Most of the above comments are true based on the reading of a very brief article based on a very brief press conference. More in depth research reading journal papers or even the AIM web site would answer most of your criticisms. Some more brief answers to your questions:
Yes, this first result is based on only 6 months of data from this spacecraft. However they have been observed by other spacecraft (in lower resolution and not as a primary mission) since the beginning of the satellite era and they have been observed from the ground since long before that. The significant increase in these poorly understood cloud formations was a major driver for launching the AIM mission. More so was simply the fact that the clouds are poorly understood.
These clouds are not proof of climate change and no one on the mission would say so. They are however a thermometer in the upper atmosphere and an indicator of a changing climate. One more piece of the puzzle, nothing more, nothing less
Andy, Washington, DC
Some 15 years ago I asked a young Christian doctor 'where all the water came from to flood the earth in Noah's time?'. He explained the then known existance of a deep thin cloud formation in the upper atmosphere.
He went on to assure me that there was no need to worry about God flooding the world again, ie the existance of the rainbow, rather we would be consumed by fire worse that Sodom and Gommorra.
Perhaps there is more to the Bible than we think?
john obacon, elmstead, uk
How long have they been measuring these clouds for? This may be evidence for climate change, yes; it's called Natural Climate Variability.
Isn't it about time newspapers like yours stopped printing every scientific journal press release as if it were truth and instead printed some discussion on the metamorphosis of honest scientific endeavour into ever more ridiculous catastophism and political spin? This is nothing more than a pitch for further funding.
James, London, UK
Correct me if I'm wrong - but wasn't "chicken little" proved right in the end?
Alex Ritchie, Salisbury, UK
It's settled then.
Wait a minute, aren't these the same people that are still looking for life on Mars?
James, JC, KS
does this mean it's to late?
Andrew, Birmingham, UK
Climate changes and global warming are not real. I know this because the Republican Party in USA tell me this. What the Republican Party tells me is true because they do not lie and because George Bush talks to God. Therefore it logically follows that global warming is not real.
Andrew Duncan, Godalming,
Dr Russell's statements above seems to imply that this evidence confirms the cause of climate change i.e. 'us'. It doesn't.
It only confirms that there is a change in climate - Nothing more, nothing less.
Tom, Cardiff, Wales
Ok let me get this straight... Nasa has taken photos of a cloud system for the first time and says they are becoming more frequent..... Surely if this were a true scientific experiment there would hve to be a hypothesis, trial and then analysis. I can see here that they quite clearly have the first of these requirements. In order to definitively say that this is evidence of global warming the trial has to last many years. Surely if this study is only being carried out in its initial phase you can not predict anything. I thought if you measured the atmospheric conditions over a few weeks it was called weather and not climate change... It is like me asking you what is the next in the sequence 2,4,...... as they say one swallow does not make a summer...
Jameson, Amsterdam, Netherlands
I hope these Nasa guys realize that measurements made over the course of a few months (in space) do not reflect any more than just that. I know that the global warming "tipping point" has become even more scary than the Northern Rock -CitiCorp debacle.
Some how, more than at any other time I can recollect in my 59 years...I feel that the "chicken Littles" have got the microphone....should we all be riding bicycles? What can the average guy and gal do? As an American, I wanna be differant than the perception...eat less, pray more, ride a bike to work and play....urge The Cowboy in Charge to hang up his guns and be peaceful and LOving.
It sure is cool though, to see those 5o mile high clouds over the Poles....pray for peace brothers and sistahs.
marty mechanic, Santa Cruz, california