I'm guessing all that is tongue in cheek.... well I hope so.
I've spent a large portion of my life investigating the impact that the solar wind (or more the case, stellar winds, i.e. other planetary systems) has on planetary magnetospheres and atmospheres.
The impact in energy from the solar flares we are talking about is not really a contributor to the temperature, the vast majority of these particles hit our magnetosphere (thank god he decided to give us one..
) and are either deflected or they resonant in the magnetic field - some of which eventually dump their energy in the upper atmosphere causing the aurora. Solar flares cause the magnetic field to be compressed and indeed there is evidence that solar flares are detrimental to atmospheres, for example the solar wind is causing the atmosphere of Mars to be "blown" away - it has a very odd and weak magnetic field.... anyway, I won't rant on about this cause I'm sure you were just kidding though if you wanna read more of why I think this is interesting I grabbed this from my research pages (
http://www.sr.bham.ac.uk/~samuel/outreach.php):
Why is my work interesting? - The Magnetosphere - Our Planet's Shield
In order for any solar particle to reach the Earth it has to pass through the Earth's magnetic field. Without any interaction with the solar wind the Earth's magnetic field resembles that of a bar magnetic. The solar wind shapes the outer regions of the Earth's magnetic field. Outside of the Earth's magnetic field space is dominated by the solar wind the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). Measurements made from many spacecraft have been put together to show that the Earth's magnetopshere is blown out by the solar wind into a teardrop shape. The head of this is about 10 Earth radii in size (65,000km) upwdins toward the Sun. The tail extends in the opposite direction of the Sun - reaching some 600,000km away from the Earth (beyond the orbit of the Moon). The shape and size of the magnetosphere are continuously change. This change is due to flucuations in the velocity and density of the solar wind. At the point where the solar wind and magnetosphere collide a shock wave forms (think of a snoic boom from a supersonic aiplane) - this is called the bow shock. Inisde the magnetosphere is not devoid of activity, infact there are two strong radiation belts of trapped particles. These belts were discovered by Prof. Jame Van Allen (in 1958) using simplate radiation dtectors carried on the first US satellite (Explorer 1). The aurora (nothern lights.. etc) are controlled by the interaction of the solar wind and the magnetopshere. Particles from the solar wind are stored in the magnetotail of the Earth. These are then accelerated to high speeds and eventually collide with particles in the Earth's upper atmosphere causing excitation and emission of light. When the Sun is active (i.e. lots of sunspots) this process is rather intense and frequent. This process occurs in similar manners on all of the magnetic planets in the solar system.... and hopefully on extrasolar planets! Aesop's fable - The Astronomer An astronomer used to walk around outside every night to watch the stars. One time, as he was wandering on the outskirts of the city and gazing at the stars, he fell into a well. After hollering and crying for help, someone ran up to the well, and after listening to his story, remarked, "My good man, while you are trying to pry into the mysteries of heaven, you overlook the common objects that are under your feet."
Topic: MESSENGER Solves Solar Flare Mystery (Read 1624 times)