Mini thread on climate without the Sun!!
So the other day I started a GCM run, and because I was silly, I effectively zeroed out the solar constant by accident. So I can turn a scrap run into a learning experience!
So the other day I started a GCM run, and because I was silly, I effectively zeroed out the solar constant by accident. So I can turn a scrap run into a learning experience!
What would the climate do if the Sun went black today?
The model has made it a few decades without crashing (which it will at some point), but here is a plot of some results.
The model has made it a few decades without crashing (which it will at some point), but here is a plot of some results.
Things get cold quick, but it actually takes many years to get things *really cold." The oceans have a lot of heat capacity, and a lot of energy is being suddenly mined out of the oceans. It takes about 10 years for sea ice to cover the whole planet.
Here is a snapshot of the temperature in January of year 30 of the simulation. Everything on the land is dead (ignore some of the island map outlines, these aren't there).
For fun, I stopped the simulation before month 250 and zeroed out the greenhouse gases and continued the run (you can see a tiny blip in the temperature). It's a fudge, but at these temperatures CO2/CH4 would have condensed out of the atmosphere.
(In real life, eventually the whole atmosphere would rain out).
But note, this is the ultimate "Day After Tomorrow" scenario, and even here, people don't suddenly freeze in their tracks. They have a bit of time, but not much.
But note, this is the ultimate "Day After Tomorrow" scenario, and even here, people don't suddenly freeze in their tracks. They have a bit of time, but not much.
Consulting available for the next Netflix show, "When the Sun goes dark."
