Science a GoGo's Home Page Forums General Discussion General Science Discussion Forum Huge Space Clouds May Have Caused Mass Extinctions

" Giant space clouds of gas may have changed the climate or atmosphere on Earth and fueled mass extinctions millions of years ago, scientists said Thursday.

In one scenario, the solar system passed through a dense cloud of interstellar material, causing Earth to ice over. In the other, the solar system passed through less dense clouds that destroyed the planet's protective ozone layer, raising levels of harmful ultraviolet radiation.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=st...nctions&e=4

Chicken Little: "The sky is...full of space crap!"

Yes, another interesting article Amaranth.
Its quite possible that the Earth would cool, were it to pass thru an interstellar cloud.
Supporting the formation of ice age extinctions.

However upon thinking about this, would'nt our Sun
suck up a lot of this cloud?
Would our Sun burn brighter as a result of this added fuel? Does a hotter Sun equal a greater cloud cover upon Earth.
Would greater cloud cover, plus added dust result in a very steep temperature drop?Q.E.D :rolleyes:

Good ol' Fred Hoyle wrote a sci fi book (The Black Cloud) back in the 50's that dealt with this scenario, err, except the cloud was actually a living intelligent entity. A great read anyway!