Cosmic rays and changes in atmospheric infra-red transmission

Recent work by Aplin and Lockwood (2013) [1] was interpreted by them as showing that there is a multiplying ratio of order 1012 for the infra-red energy absorbed in the ionization produced by cosmic rays in the atmosphere to the energy content of the cosmic rays themselves. We argue here that the interpretation of the result in terms of infra-red absorption by ionization is incorrect and that the result is therefore most likely due to a technical artefact.