You'll probably be called a moron for that post, even though you're right.
You'll probably be called a moron for that post, even though you're right.
why wait wrote:
The upper atmosphere would cool off that rapidly, but I think it would be a little longer, probably about a week because of the heat energy stored in the surface of the Earth. And then considering all of the heat energy in the tropical oceans, and it could be possible that humans on tropical islands could survive much longer.
All of this assuming the Sun just goes out and doesn't turn into a black hole, in which case we'd absolutely be effed much sooner.
No. In the northern states in the US, when night comes and it is clear out, the temperature drops quite a bit. this time of year it can be 17 F in the day and 0-5 F at night.
All that has changed is during the day (on a clear day) the sun was shining, and at night it was not and there was no cloud cover to hold the previous atmospheric heat in.
The reason it stays around 0 deg F at all is because the earth is still being baked by the sun from very far away. Remove the sun completely and outside any buildings it would go to -20 F or -40 F really quick.
I guess you could calculate the specific heat capacity of the Earth's crust and then estimate the mass of it and then estimate how long it would heat the atmosphere at ground level by radiation, but my hunch is that it would get really uncomfortable FAST, right after that initial 8 minutes.
Considering that large parts of the world are at -20 to 10F right now in winter, those parts would become uninhabitable right away to those who are outside buildings.
Blowing.Rock Master wrote:
You'll probably be called a moron for that post, even though you're right.
Why are you agreeing with something you do not understand. You are a clueless human being. Nobody likes you. Please kill yourself.
I'm thinking it'd be good to live near either Yellowstone with the geothermal steam and pools of water or the volcanoes in Hawaii.
bear in mind... photosynthesis would stop, meaning plant life would largely die off, which would rapidly decrease the amount of oxygen available for us to breath. even with a great propane heater, we'd all probably be toast in days or weeks. best bet is to say f*ck it all, grab all your pals, and do one last epic beer mile. in trainers.
You're thinking all right ... So your plan is to boil to death by the light of the stars? What do you plan to eat? Maybe you could call Domino's? Wait, I know for a fact that Domino's doesn't deliver in Yellowstone.
park ranger wrote:
I'm thinking it'd be good to live near either Yellowstone with the geothermal steam and pools of water or the volcanoes in Hawaii.
the radiation that we feel today from the sun was produced in the sun's core 133,000 years ago. that is how long it takes for heat produced in the sun to reach earth. so, if the sun died today, we would have about 133,000 years of heat that has already been produced by the sun to heat the earth. We wouldn't see the sun as actually dead until 133,000 years in the future.
you are all wrong wrote:
the radiation that we feel today from the sun was produced in the sun's core 133,000 years ago. that is how long it takes for heat produced in the sun to reach earth. so, if the sun died today, we would have about 133,000 years of heat that has already been produced by the sun to heat the earth. We wouldn't see the sun as actually dead until 133,000 years in the future.
Incorrect.
Guess again.
biological life would soon die out. This is true. However you must all remember light is the result of energy. even though the light would discontinue after 8 minutes the flow of heat would still continue to arrive because it does not travel at the speed of light. The question asked by the original poster does not relate to light, rather how long life would continue. Life would certainly continue much longer, however as the heat flow ran its course, human life would collapse as soon as the incoming heat stopped. In sub zero temperatures you could survive with proper sub zero gear, however as soon as you took your first breath of minus 200 degree cold, your lungs would crystalize and you would cease to breathe.
themove2016 wrote:
...However you must all remember light is the result of energy. even though the light would discontinue after 8 minutes the flow of heat would still continue to arrive because it does not travel at the speed of light...
You sound pseudo-scientific enough to fool some folks so I guess someone should point out the fallacy that you present here.
How, exactly, do you think the heat from the sun travels to earth? My guess is that it is not via conduction nor through the transfer of heated particles. That pretty much leaves radiation of the electromagnetic variety. And any guess as to how fast these travel. Oh yeah, that would be the speed of light.
And on a bit more ridiculous note, what exactly does it mean to say that "light is the result of energy". And I always thought that light WAS a form of energy.
MMMmmm .. no wrote:
No. In the northern states in the US, when night comes and it is clear out, the temperature drops quite a bit. this time of year it can be 17 F in the day and 0-5 F at night.
All that has changed is during the day (on a clear day) the sun was shining, and at night it was not and there was no cloud cover to hold the previous atmospheric heat in.
The reason it stays around 0 deg F at all is because the earth is still being baked by the sun from very far away. Remove the sun completely and outside any buildings it would go to -20 F or -40 F really quick.
I guess you could calculate the specific heat capacity of the Earth's crust and then estimate the mass of it and then estimate how long it would heat the atmosphere at ground level by radiation, but my hunch is that it would get really uncomfortable FAST, right after that initial 8 minutes.
Considering that large parts of the world are at -20 to 10F right now in winter, those parts would become uninhabitable right away to those who are outside buildings.
Funny you mention Northern States, as I live in Alaska and am a cross country ski coach who intently watches temperature trends overnight in order to have the best race wax the next morning.
Fairbanks Alaska, for example, the day temperatures in the winter during long high pressure systems (clear weather) do not vary much at all. Perhaps 5-10 degrees, and that drop occurs in the first hours of dusk and darkness. This is true everywhere where I've been across the northern States. It doesn't normally drop anymore after midnight, which hints that the surface of the Earth has quite a bit of thermal energy stored and slows cooling significantly.
I believe you are confusing northern States with high elevation States. There is less atmosphere at higher elevations and so the Sun's energy is much higher during the days there. That's why many places can fluctuate 20 or more degrees from day to night to day.
Kevin52 wrote:
you are all wrong wrote:the radiation that we feel today from the sun was produced in the sun's core 133,000 years ago. that is how long it takes for heat produced in the sun to reach earth. so, if the sun died today, we would have about 133,000 years of heat that has already been produced by the sun to heat the earth. We wouldn't see the sun as actually dead until 133,000 years in the future.
Incorrect.
Guess again.
No actually this is correct. If you think it is incorrect please disprove it. Thank You.
Dr. Cole wrote:
Kevin52 wrote:Incorrect.
Guess again.
No actually this is correct. If you think it is incorrect please disprove it. Thank You.
If the heat from the sun was somehow stored continuously in the earths core, crust, and surface, wouldn't we just keep getting hotter and hotter? Whats the deal with Ice Ages then?
builder bob wrote:
i'd shoot everyone around me and use them for food and heat, etc.
(well, that excludes the hotties. i'd use them for body heat)
POD that ive read. love the name too.
why wait wrote:
Funny you mention Northern States, as I live in Alaska and am a cross country ski coach who intently watches temperature trends overnight in order to have the best race wax the next morning.
Fairbanks Alaska, for example, the day temperatures in the winter during long high pressure systems (clear weather) do not vary much at all. Perhaps 5-10 degrees, and that drop occurs in the first hours of dusk and darkness. This is true everywhere where I've been across the northern States. It doesn't normally drop anymore after midnight, which hints that the surface of the Earth has quite a bit of thermal energy stored and slows cooling significantly.
I believe you are confusing northern States with high elevation States. There is less atmosphere at higher elevations and so the Sun's energy is much higher during the days there. That's why many places can fluctuate 20 or more degrees from day to night to day.
I live in MI and looking at actual temps for the month of January for 48823 I see this:
1/01 - 23/14
1/02 - 16/4
1/03 - 22/3
1/08 - 23/10
1/09 - 19/0
1/10 - 23/1
1/11 - 25/14
1/12 - 25/6
1/13 - 34/19
1/14 - 40/27
These are OBSERVED highs/lows for Michigan. Most of the other days that had less high/low difference were cloudy days.
I said that it was common for us to have a high in the daytime of ~17 F and a nighttime low of 0-5 F. Or a diff. or ~15 deg.
Looking at most of the last two weeks of real world temps I was right. Don't know what happens in AK or the high-alt. states ... but here is what happens in MI.
pools of water wrote:
You're thinking all right ...
So your plan is to boil to death by the light of the stars? What do you plan to eat? Maybe you could call Domino's? Wait, I know for a fact that Domino's doesn't deliver in Yellowstone.
Now see you're not thinking ...
Domino's would have already ceased to exist. I've got plenty of power gels, soy mix, and whole-grain pasta stored up ...
Wasn't this thread duplicted from one like 2 months ago?
I love the History Channel...
In a few billion years the sun will expand into a "red giant" and possibly engulf the earth. Even if it doesn't the earth's oceans will boil off and the earth will lose it's atmosphere. We'll basically end up like Mercury. At some point the sun will "explode", blowing off layers of gas and becoming a white dwarf and then eventually a black dwarf.
Now, if you just "poof" got rid of the sun you'd have to look around and see what neihboring stars we have. Without the massive pull of gravity from our sun my guess is that our planets will drift toward another star, eventually. At first each planet would leave its orbit on a straight line since nothing is now keeping it in orbit. At some point each planet would likely get close enough to another star for that star's gravity to effect it.
Here's something on the subject:
http://www.earthsky.org/faqpost/space/sun-light-motion-change
http://www.physicsforums.com/archive/index.php/t-99949.html
Alan
Not really wrote:
Poke Her Face wrote:...If the sun turned into a black hole, earth would be sucked into it...
No, not really. If the sun's mass were magically converted into a black hole presumably located at the current center of the sun, it would still have the same gravitational pull on anything further away from it than the current diameter of the sun. In particular this includes the earth whose orbit would remain unchanged in this scenario.
Correct; why do people think that the gravitational pull would suddenly increase. Specifically, at any distance from the suns current radius on out the gravitational pull would be the same (unless mass/energy is expelled in the process). Of course, the sun is too small to collapse into a black hole. Electron degeneracy 'pressure' keeps a star from collapsing further for masses below a mass of 1.4 'suns' (but at a pretty small circumference), and neutron degeneracy pressure works up to approximately 2 suns (but the physics here is less well understood for a good empirical estimate) with a much smaller circumference. See, for instance, Kip Thorne's 1994 book "Black Holes and Time Warps: Einstein's Outrageous Legacy" (Commonwealth Fund Book Program).
Your thinking is correct. The red giant phase is what would kill us. However, if the sun were to somehow just die off and cease to produce light and heat, the planet would probably stay warm enough to support life for a 2-3 days from the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The plants would probably die off in 1-2 days, with some dying in even less time.