For those interested the discovery of cold plasma in the upper atmosphere has sparked a debate on the internet – see for example http://chiefio.wordpress.com/2012/01/28/warm-plasma-cold-plasma-purr-pur… and http://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/01/27/giant-veil-of-cold-plasma-discover… and http://tallbloke.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/greenhouse-gases-cool-planets-…
See in particular at Anthony Watts Jan 27th 7.52pm (comments) 'Just the Facts' and see the comments at each post as they add to the brew. It seems the whole question of electro-magnetism and electricity in space is rising to the surface – in spite of people trying to keep the lid on. It will take you an hour or so to read all the comments so make sure you have a cup of tea or coffee at hand.
In addition, at http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/educator/litho8.html we have 'Plasma Clouds around the Earth' – yes- this is NASA and it seems this is where Just the Facts gets his information.