2024-07-05 23:34:49
An international group of scientists from Austria and Australia have found that the Sun is capable of causing serious damage to the Earth’s ozone layer and sharply increasing the level of ultraviolet radiation on the surface of our planet.
As reported by Day.Az, the study was published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The team used large computer models of global atmospheric chemistry to study the effects of extreme solar emissions.
As calculations have shown, approximately once every 1000 years our star emits a powerful “gust” of solar wind. It consists of electrons and protons that trigger chemical reactions in the atmosphere and deplete the protective ozone layer, increasing the amount of solar radiation reaching the earth’s surface.
According to the modeling, a new such event could deplete Earth’s ozone for about a year. But if the release occurred during a period of weakening of the Earth’s magnetic field, the ozone damage would last for six years. During this time, incoming solar ultraviolet radiation would increase by 25%, and the rate of DNA damage associated with it would increase by 50%.
The last period of weak magnetic field – including a temporary switch between the north and south poles – began 42,000 years ago and lasted about 1,000 years. Several major evolutionary events occurred around this time, such as the disappearance of the last Neanderthals in Europe and the extinction of marsupial megafauna in Australia, the scientists noted.
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