"At a distance of around93 million miles (150 million kilometres) from Earth, the sun delivers about 1,365 Watts per square metre of energy, which scientists call the solar constant. About 30 per cent of that energy is reflected back into space, while the remainder is absorbed, warming the Earth's atmosphere and surface. Currently, our planet is holding on to more energy than it loses - but it wouldn't take much to tip the balance."
"These numbers might sound small. But in reality, scientists say that these changes would be more than enough to wipe out humanity. Professor David Stevenson, a planetary scientist from the California Institute of Technology, told Daily Mail: 'Extinguishing life on Earth would take a long time even if you eliminated solar energy because we know of organisms that live underground. 'But extinguishing humans could happen fast, especially since humans are not rational creatures for the most part.'"
A hypothetical dimming of the Sun by about 1% per year and 5% over 20 years would sharply reduce incoming solar energy. At Earth's orbit the solar constant is roughly 1,365 W/m2, of which about 30% is reflected and the rest absorbed to warm the atmosphere and surface. A small decline in solar irradiance could tip Earth's energy balance toward rapid cooling. Surface temperatures, agriculture, and infrastructure would suffer, undermining human societies while some subterranean organisms could persist. Natural solar variability from the 11-year sunspot cycle is normally very small compared with the catastrophic dimming scenario.
Read at Mail Online
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]