Our planet: Study suggests ancient Earth cyclically experienced massive rainfalls
New Delhi: A study conducted by researchers at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences has suggested that our planet cyclically experienced massive rainfalls in the past.
The study aimed at providing insights into the adaptive capabilities of the Earth, and suggests future possibilities of natural temperature optimizations, especially regarding rapid climate change and increased global temperatures, according to media reports.
It reveals the cyclical nature of the ancient Earth’s atmosphere. The planet would experience acute frost, also called the Ice Age, followed by periods of scorching heat, a cycle of dryness, and massive rainfalls.
Senior researcher Robin Wordsworth said, “These episodic cycles of deluges is a new and completely unexpected atmospheric state.” His colleague Jacob Seeley said, “We found that in hot climates, there could be multiple days without rain, and then, suddenly, deluges take place and dump monumental amounts of rainwater over the surface of the planet. It would repeat for a very long time. The prolonged heat was 20 times more than what we experience today.”
Seeley and Wordsworth created an atmospheric model and scaled the sea surface temperatures to 130 degrees Fahrenheit by adding more Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and increasing the Sun’s brightness by 10 percent. They observed unexpected circumstances at such temperatures. When the air above the surface became extremely warm, atmospheric water vapour absorbed sunlight and formed an inhibition layer.
“This layer acted as a barrier that prevented convention clouds from rising into the upper atmospheric levels and transforming into rain-bearing clouds. Instead, the evaporation stuck in the near-surface atmosphere. Meanwhile, other clouds formed in the upper atmosphere, above the inhibition layer, but the produced rain evaporated before reaching the Earth, thereby returning the water into the atmosphere,” the study stated.
After several days, the evaporative cooling from the upper atmospheric rainstorms erodes the barrier to trigger long-lasting downpours that continue for up to 6 hours nonstop. The clouds dissipate after the storm, precipitation stops as the atmospheric batteries recharge and the cycle continues.”
“This study revealed new physics in a climate that is only a little different from present-day Earth and raises big new questions about the climatic evolution of Earth and other planets that we’re going to be working through for many years to come,” Wordsworth said.
(Avya Mathur)
