Cosmic Rays, Solar Activity and the Climate

Although it is generally believed that the increase in the mean global surface temperature since industrialisation is caused by the increase in green house gases in the atmosphere, some people cite solar activity, either directly or through its effect on cosmic rays, as an underestimated contributor to such global warming. In this paper a simplified version of the standard picture of the role of greenhouse gases in causing the global warming since industrialisation is described. The conditions necessary for this picture to be wholly or partially wrong are then introduced. Evidence is presented from which the contributions of either cosmic rays or solar activity to this warming is deduced. The contribution is shown to be less than 10% of the warming seen in the twentieth century.