(ORDO NEWS) — Harvard scientist Robin Wordsworth found out how likely it is that our planet will completely freeze up. As it turned out, this is more than real. The temperature can become so low that all life on Earth will simply die. Writes about this arxiv.org.
Previously, scientists believed that terrestrial planets have something like a “built-in thermostat” (also called a carbon air conditioner). When our planet freezes, CO2 binds to rocks. As a result, the greenhouse gas accumulates in the atmosphere, and the temperature begins to rise. If the temperature is extremely high, the opposite process occurs and the Earth cools.
So, Robin Wordsworth decided to test how natural and effective the conditioning process is. He carried out various experiments, research and calculations. It turned out that if severe cold weather sets in, the oceans will absorb CO2. The lack of carbon dioxide leads to an even greater cooling. With the most unfavorable calculations, the Earth will be covered with ice in 300 million years.
There will be no flash thawing, says Dr. Wordsworth. Snow and ice perfectly reflect the sun’s rays. This means that the Sun simply cannot warm up the planet. Although, if our star gradually grows in terms of luminosity, the likelihood of glaciation will decrease.
But there is one sad fact – the distance from the Earth to the Sun is about 150 million light years. This means that the day that you see today was illuminated by the star for a very long time. And it is extremely difficult to predict further how things will be with her. The last Ice Age was 20 thousand years ago, and no one wants to repeat it today.
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