COSMIC dust could be responsible for some of the cold snaps in our planet鈥檚 climate.
Geologist Lars Franz茅n of Gothenburg University in Sweden studied dust deposited in 20 peat bogs throughout Europe. Peaks in the levels of cosmic dust coincided with cold spells on Earth. This included the 鈥淵ounger Dryas鈥� cold snap some 12,000 years ago and Europe鈥檚 little ice age in 1700, Franz茅n told a catastrophes conference in London earlier this month.
He suggests that regions of space where cosmic dust is especially dense may shield the planet from sunlight, driving temperatures down.
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