What would happen if solar radiation increased? Would the Earth get hotter? Quite the contrary, according to a new study published inNature that warns thatincreased solar activity could cool the planet.
Joanna Haig, specialist in atmospheric physics of theImperial Collegefrom London, United Kingdom, and his team analyzed the daily measurements of the spectral composition of sunlight made by theSORCE satellitefrom NASAfrom 2004 to 2007. The researchers found thatthe amount of visible light the Earth receives increases as the Sun’s activity decreases, thus warming the earth’s surface. Contrary to expectations, the net amount of solar energy reaching the Earth’s troposphere – the lowest part of the atmosphere – appears to have been higher in 2007 than in 2004, despite the decrease in solar activity during this period “, report the article published in the journal Nature.
The researchers also found that,above an altitude of 45 kilometers, ozone concentrations increase as total solar emissions decrease. “We are seeing, albeit limited to a very short period of time, a very interesting change in solar radiation with very similar changes in the ozone layer,” Haigh said. Scientists emphasize that this non-logical behavior, observed over a short period of time duringa potentially anomalous solar cycleIt cannot, however, be generalized.
Solar storms by the star increased in 2010 and are expected to intensify in 2012.
