“For the three day period, March 8th through 10th, the thermosphere absorbed 26 billion kWh of energy.  Infrared radiation from CO2 and NO, the two most efficient coolants in the thermosphere, re-radiated 95% of that total back into space.”

I rarely see NASA characterize carbon dioxide as a coolant.  However, in a previous post, I discuss how water vapor, a strong greenhouse gas, has a net cooling effect.

“During the heating impulse, the thermosphere puffed up like a marshmallow held over a campfire, temporarily increasing the drag on low-orbiting satellites.  This is both good and bad.  On the one hand, extra drag helps clear space junk out of Earth orbit.  On the other hand, it decreases the lifetime of useful satellites by bringing them closer to the day of re-entry.”

The solar storm was measured by the SABER instrument aboard the TIMED satellite. The link above provides graphics and a video.

The graphs below show the surge of infrared radiation that was dumped back into space by nitrous oxide (NO) and carbon dioxide.

Note on a previous NASA announcement:

My post: NASA Says Earth Is Entering A Cooling Period, featured an article from NASA which included the following statement: “Other important forcings of Earth’s climate system include such ‘variables’ as clouds, airborne particulate matter, and surface brightness. Each of these varying features of Earth’s environment has the capacity to exceed the warming influence of greenhouse gases and cause our world to cool.”

I and several others note that this page has disappeared from the NASA website, possibly because it was deemed  politically incorrect. Fortunately a screen shot was  preserved. I wonder if the primary NASA link to this post will survive political correctness.