I knew there was more to that plan to send those two rovers to Mars. It turns out that they were part of a plot to implicate the sun in global warming -- both on Earth and Mars.

Mars is being hit by rapid climate change and it is happening so fast that the red planet could lose its southern ice cap, writes Jonathan Leake.

Scientists from Nasa say that Mars has warmed by about 0.5C since the 1970s. This is similar to the warming experienced on Earth over approximately the same period.

Since there is no known life on Mars it suggests rapid changes in planetary climates could be natural phenomena.

Nah, really?

I love this part though.

The mechanism at work on Mars appears, however, to be different from that on Earth. One of the researchers, Lori Fenton, believes variations in radiation and temperature across the surface of the Red Planet are generating strong winds.

In a paper published in the journal Nature, she suggests that such winds can stir up giant dust storms, trapping heat and raising the planet’s temperature.

When the same thing happens on Earth, scientists (see volcanoes spewing ash into the sky, "nuclear winter," etc.) claim that cools the Earth because it reflects sunlight away from the surface.

I must confess that this must make it quite a bit easier for students taking tests on this issue -- ignore the science and go with the spin -- your answer will always be right.