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The distance between the Earth and Sun, which is 93 million miles on average, varies throughout the year. During the first week in January, the Earth is about
by slowhand09 5y ago
The distance between the Earth and Sun, which is 93 million miles on average, varies throughout the year. During the first week in January, the Earth is about 1.6 million miles closer to the sun. This is referred to as the perihelion. The aphelion, or the point at which the Earth is about 1.6 million miles farther away from the sun, occurs during the first week in July.
Can we just gradually boost Earth a little farther (on average) from the sun? Or we could blow up the moon, reducing tidal fluctuation, and thus coastal flooding. Plus the debris would reduce sunlight imparting a cooling effect.
- ngokevin 5y ago> Can we just gradually boost Earth a little farther (on average) from the sun? Fun sci-fi short story: The Wandering Earth But yeah, large geo-engineering efforts seem likely to me.
- Arcuru 5y agoNo. Both of those ideas are wildly impractical with current technology/available energy. In addition to being completely out of reach with our current available energy sources, blowing up the moon would also be a very bad idea. For a hard scifi look at that scenario, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seveneves https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seveneves
- gspr 5y agoThis is my problem with HN. People who are good in their respective fields propose insane stuff like this and don't even realize how disconnected from reality it is.