The Influence of the Interstellar Medium on Climate and LifeThe Black CloudRevisited

Recent studies of the gas and dust between the star, the interstellar medium reveal a complex chemistry which indicates that prebiotic organic chemistry is ubiquitous. The relationship between this interstellar chemistry and the organic chemistry of the early solar system and the Earth is explored. The interstellar medium is also considered as likely to have a continuing influence upon the climate of the Earth and other planets. Life forms as we know them are not only descendants of the organic evolution begun in the interstellar medium but their continuing evolution is also molded through occasional interactions between the interstellar medium, the Sun and the climate on Earth.