how close to the sun would the earth need to be to

[MrPickins]

This is why we have a Highly Technical forum. if you wanted a "real" answer, you should have posted there.

FWIW, if all the water on earth was in the atmosphere as vapor, I'd imagine our surface pressure would be immense, much like Venus. That would preclude human survival, although I would imagine some bacteria might survive.

 

[FusionKnight]

Originally posted by: pontifex
make the oceans boil and evaporate?
what would this do to the rest of the earth (plants, soil, air, etc)?

I dunno about the rest of the planet, but humans would not question the validity of global warming at this stage 😀

FK

 

[Mo0o]

Originally posted by: FusionKnight

Originally posted by: pontifex
make the oceans boil and evaporate?
what would this do to the rest of the earth (plants, soil, air, etc)?

I dunno about the rest of the planet, but humans would not question the validity of global warming at this stage 😀

FK

except for republicans

 

[dxkj]

Originally posted by: Hyperion042

Originally posted by: Fern
Boy, this is way out of my profession, but:

1) I have some questions about the whole 'boiling & evaporation thing". Seems to me that the boiling/evap would serve to cool the water. The additional evap water in the atmosphere may tend to cool the Earth by blocking out sunlight. As that part of Earth rotated away from the Sun, there would be massive cooling & rain etc.

2) I tend to think the most effective means of eventually causing all the water on Earth to disappear would be if the core solidified. This would "kill" the magnetic field around the Earth. Without the magnetic field (and no more volcanic eruptions etc) we would lose the atmosphere, and all the water etc.

I can't remember which B- grade science fiction movie I got this stuff from 😉

Fern

Pretty sure freezing the core would just kill the magnetic field, and pretty sure that the effects of this, while unpredictable, would not amount to a catastropic world destroying event. Best case, all the migratory birds in the world die off and we lose all our auroras. Worst case, weather patterns alter due to the gross reduction in incoming solar winds. Also it's somewhat unlikely that volcanic activity would be eliminated... Eruption patterns might change, but freezing the core would likely not annihilate the mantle's geothermal activity.

You dont think freezing the core and causing it to shrink would cause more seismic activity?

 

[zerocool84]

I remember on the Discovery Channel I saw a whole episode that talked about the ending of the sun. I dont remember the timefreame but it was thousands of years from now. That the sun got larger nearing the end of the sun, it grew and enveloped Mercury, then Venus, then when it boiled all of the moisture in the atmosphere with the oceans, Oh yea humans were already extinct as all life because when the sun enveloped Mercury it was already too hot. Well then it enveloped the Earth and that is that. I don't remember the name of the show but it was very recent, only a couple weeks ago.

 

[Fritzo]

I don't know that, but I do know that if the oxygen content of their atmosphere were to be raised by only 4%, the entire planet would burst into flames.

*POOF*

 

[StrangerGuy]

Originally posted by: LeadMagnet
Wait 5 billion years you'll find out.

When the sun's burns up all the hydrogen in it's core, and begins burning heavier elements it will become much hotter. Gravity will loose the battle to fusion and the sun will become a red giant, expanding to consume Mercury, Venus, and Earth's orbits.

As the glowing ember we once call home plows through the outer solar material, it's orbital energy will disipate and the planet will spiral into the core of the sun. Then the sun will colapes into a brown dwarf, dieing a slow death. Without the solar energy to keep them warm the outer plants will cool an freeze, after having been cooked by the sun's red giant phase.

From our beloved Wikipedia:

"The future of the planet is closely tied to that of the Sun. The luminosity of the Sun will continue to steadily increase, growing from the current luminosity by 10% in 1.1 billion years (1.1 Gyr) and up to 40% in 3.5 Gyr.[23] Climate models indicate that the increase in radiation reaching the Earth is likely to have dire consequences, including possible loss of the oceans.[24]"

Sun doesn't need become a red giant to kill us. We will be long dead before then if we are still stuck on this planet.

 

[Hyperion042]

Originally posted by: dxkj

Originally posted by: Hyperion042

Originally posted by: Fern
Boy, this is way out of my profession, but:

1) I have some questions about the whole 'boiling & evaporation thing". Seems to me that the boiling/evap would serve to cool the water. The additional evap water in the atmosphere may tend to cool the Earth by blocking out sunlight. As that part of Earth rotated away from the Sun, there would be massive cooling & rain etc.

2) I tend to think the most effective means of eventually causing all the water on Earth to disappear would be if the core solidified. This would "kill" the magnetic field around the Earth. Without the magnetic field (and no more volcanic eruptions etc) we would lose the atmosphere, and all the water etc.

I can't remember which B- grade science fiction movie I got this stuff from 😉

Fern

Pretty sure freezing the core would just kill the magnetic field, and pretty sure that the effects of this, while unpredictable, would not amount to a catastropic world destroying event. Best case, all the migratory birds in the world die off and we lose all our auroras. Worst case, weather patterns alter due to the gross reduction in incoming solar winds. Also it's somewhat unlikely that volcanic activity would be eliminated... Eruption patterns might change, but freezing the core would likely not annihilate the mantle's geothermal activity.

You dont think freezing the core and causing it to shrink would cause more seismic activity?

Not in any predictable fashion. Remember, the mantle is liquid, and the currents and eddies in it are dictated by the spinning of the core, not the fact that the core is half liquid. Whether the force of the mantle expanding as such would have major effects on the earth is debatable, but I'd guess that from the perspective of the earth's surface, there wouldn't be a ton of change. Stopping it on its axis would result in some ownage though, I believe.