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1500 questions
44
votes
2 answers

(How long) would Earth's atmosphere last without a global magnetic field?

The Earth's magnetic field provides an important protection against the solar wind (for example, see Wikipedia on Earth's magnetic field and references therein). Mars may have lost its atmosphere because it did not retain such a magnetic field,…
gerrit
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What does a mm of rain mean?

Lots of people have explained it over many sites but I still can not confidently say that I know what it means when they say Hong Kong experienced 3mm of rainfall last Friday. Does it mean that 3mm per square meter was experienced in a specific…
coder123
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Are there any uncharted waters left on earth?

While reading about the ghost ship Jiang Seng I noticed that Wikipedia claimed it was drifting in uncharted waters in the Gulf of Carpentaria. I tried to find a primary source referencing uncharted waters but couldn't find any so this may just be…
Lilienthal
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41
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2 answers

Farthest point from the center of the Earth

At first glance, this seems like such a simple question of "What's the highest point on Earth". However, I also know that the Earth isn't perfectly round. So that "highest point" may be in a relative valley. Also, because it's non-spherical, the…
Richard
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41
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2 answers

How it's possible to measure temperature 2000 years ago with such precision?

I saw this graph about the global temperature, it goes back for 2000 years. How is it possible to measure temperature 2000 years back with such a precision of like ~0.1 C? The image from Reddit post I don't know the source of original data. What…
Alex Craft
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7 answers

CO₂ level is high enough that it reduces cognitive ability. Isn't that a reason to worry?

I think the level of carbon dioxide in the air is high enough to reduce the intelligence of humans. This has nothing to do with climate change. Except that both mean we should reduce CO₂. I never heard of that, surprisingly, but deducted that from…
Volker Siegel
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3 answers

What would be the temperature of earth if there was no atmosphere?

I do know that the atmosphere protects life on Earth by absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation, warming the surface through heat retention (greenhouse effect),and reducing temperature extremes between day and night (the diurnal temperature…
Praveen Kadambari
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38
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4 answers

Why do the Siberian methane craters have smooth vertical walls?

I expect most of you have heard of this by now. All the news is about whether or not they were formed by the release of methane, but it is also mysterious to me why this crater has jagged edges but smooth vertical walls. It almost looks like it has…
spraff
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38
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7 answers

Is the sea level rise unusual?

I'm discussing climate change with a friend who is a climate change denier, basically the argument is that looking at this graph, is not clear that something unusual is going on, so the sea level rise is just something that was there, all natural…
Samuraka
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37
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3 answers

Why is Earth's inner core solid?

I have never understood why earth's inner core is solid. Considering that the inner core is made of an iron-nickel alloy (melting point around 1350 C to 1600 C) and the temperature of the inner core is approximately 5430 C (about the temperature of…
tux
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37
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2 answers

Similarities between grand circulation solvers and mantle convection solvers

My impression is that both ocean grand circulation models (e.g. MITgcm), and Mantle Convection models (e.g. CitcomS), both use Navier-Stoke's as the governing equation. What are the other major similarities between these two types of models? Should…
Neo
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4 answers

How does anthropogenic heating affect global warming?

Anthropogenic-sourced greenhouse gases are commonly cited as the main source for human-caused climate change. However, something that I never see discussed is the actual heat produced by human activities. It could be that it's negligible, but I'm…
Gimelist
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6 answers

Is climate change a vicious circle?

My question refers to the current process of climate change. CO2 is rising, which leads to the greenhouse effect, which raises temperatures. This leads to more wildfires, which reduces number of trees, increasing CO2 and reducing CO2 capacity…
luchonacho
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36
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5 answers

How do we know the asteroids formed at the same time as earth?

In continuation of the question Why is Earth's age given by dating meteorites rather than its own rocks?, what evidence do we have that the asteroids indeed formed at the same time as earth? Is there any physical evidence, or is it a conclusion…
Nathaniel Bubis
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4 answers

Why is Earth's age given by dating meteorites rather than its own rocks?

Reading a course on Precambrian, I read that: Earth Age (around 4.5 billion years) is dated thanks to the meteorites hitting Earth during its formation rather than the inner materials composing the Earth. Wouldn't it be more accurate by doing it…
Chirac
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