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Cosmic rays and the biosphere over 4 billion years
Author(s) -
Svensmark H.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
astronomische nachrichten
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.394
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1521-3994
pISSN - 0004-6337
DOI - 10.1002/asna.200610651
Subject(s) - billion years , biosphere , milky way , cosmic ray , astronomy , physics , earth (classical element) , productivity , earth's orbit , cosmic cancer database , astrophysics , astrobiology , environmental science , galaxy , economics , spacecraft , macroeconomics
Abstract Variations in the flux of cosmic rays (CR) at Earth during the last 4.6 billion years are constructed from information about the star formation rate in the Milky Way and the evolution of the solar activity. The constructed CR signal is compared with variations in the Earths biological productivity as recorded in the isotope δ 13 C, which spans more than 3 billion years. CR and fluctuations in biological productivity show a remarkable correlation and indicate that the evolution of climate and the biosphere on the Earth is closely linked to the evolution of the Milky Way. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)