Our Sun - Its Influence on Climate and Life

About

Edward Guinan, professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Villanova University, is a scientist on NASA-sponsored research programs that explore the behavior of the sun - and stars like the sun - to determine the effects of their radiation, magnetic activity and ejected plasmas on planets and life. Guinan addressed the topic in a lecture titled "Our Sun - Its Influence on Climate and Life." The sun has been a reliable energy source for more than 4.5 billion years. Scientists have learned that X-ray and ultraviolet emissions of the young sun were 1,000 times stronger than today's sun. Guinan discussed how the young sun's high-energy emissions played a major role in the loss of all water on Venus and much of Mars' original atmosphere, and how the Earth survived the early ravages of the young sun. In addition, Guinan addressed the effects of the sun's magnetic-generated energy on the Earth's climate, possibly playing a major role in the "Little Ice Age" from 1500 to 1850, a time when the sun had low levels of magnetic activity and the Earth had a cooler climate. Also, he discussed the role the sun may have played in global warming over the past 150 years. Is the sun to blame? Guinan concluded with a discussion of the sun's future and how the sun's ever-increasing luminosity affects the Earth's long-term climate and its habitability.

Archive

Library of Congress, in Library of Congress: talks and concerts

Licence or status

Rights statement at the Library of Congress, as the Library of Congress states it.

Credit

Library of Congress

Language

English

Country

United States

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