Spaceweather.com has been covering the mystery of an increased frequency of “noctilucent”, or night-shining clouds and has a posted a gorgeous gallery of images. These gorgeous clouds, which are formed from ice particles, are brighter and seen at lower latitudes than ever before according to this article from Scientific American.

Nasa’s principal investigator reports:

“It is clear that PMCs are changing … and we do not understand how, why or what it means,” said AIM principal investigator James Russell III of Hampton University. “These observations suggest a connection with global change in the lower atmosphere and could represent an early warning that our Earth’s environment is being altered.”

Russell also believes that these clouds could be used to shield the Earth from the effects of global warming. “”If these clouds were to continue to grow and cover broad areas of Earth, they would form something like a thin, semi-transparent umbrella,” he told New Scientist. “They would reduce the amount of solar rays making it to the ground, so they could actually reduce the effects of global warming.”