Scientists prove that an increase of several tens of degrees would make the Earth uninhabitable

An increase of just a few tens of degrees on Earth could unleash an irreversible “runaway greenhouse effect” and make the planet as uninhabitable as Venus, warns research from the University of Geneva published today.

A study carried out using simulated 3D planetary models, also involving experts from the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), showed that the difference between a planet capable of supporting life and one that is not is less than one. Think a few degrees.

In the simulation, an Earth-like planet, with oceans and life, was created, in which a temperature change of a few tens of degrees triggered a chain reaction that quickly changed the state of the star, the University of Geneva highlighted in a report.

“Evaporation of just 10 centimeters on the surface of the ocean will lead to an increase in atmospheric pressure of 1 bar, and in a few hundred years will reach a surface temperature of 500 degrees,” explained the professor of the department. Astronomy at Guillaume Chaverot University, head of research.

The expert added that evolution will continue until atmospheric pressures of up to 273 bars and temperatures of 1,500 degrees are reached, at which point the water in the oceans will completely evaporate.

With this study, published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, experts are getting closer to the process known as the “runaway greenhouse effect,” as other works until now have focused on before or after it. Not in “when”.

This greenhouse effect can “turn a planet from beautiful and habitable to harsh and hostile,” says the University of Geneva.

Although scientists wonder if the effects would be the same if the temperature rise had other causes, such as increased concentrations of CO₂ and other gases, the scientists examined a hypothetical rise of tens of thousands of degrees associated with future increases in the sun’s luminous intensity. It also creates a greenhouse effect.

For example, scientists make it clear that at moderate levels, the greenhouse effect caused by water vapor is effective because “without it, Earth’s average temperature would be below the freezing point of water” and life on it would be impossible.

Above all the research aims to study the possibility of life on exoplanets (planets outside our solar system), to see if their cloud cover is similar to Earth’s, possibly making them habitable, or if they are already “showing signs of runaway”. Greenhouse Effects.”

Michel Mayer and Didier Kulos, two researchers from the University of Geneva, discovered the first exoplanet in 1995, earning them the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics.