3 ms·
> Gamma rays don't go very far into our atmosphere before getting scattered or absorbed. I think part of the "fear factor" is the idea of a much closer burst h
by turtledragonfly 4y ago
> Gamma rays don't go very far into our atmosphere before getting scattered or absorbed.
I think part of the "fear factor" is the idea of a much closer burst happening, dumping vastly more energy our way, which we would have no way to detect (since it travels at the speed of light), and which could instantly vaporize 1/2 of our planet's atmosphere, thanks to that absorption you mention (:
Personally, I feel like that makes it somehow less worrying, but different people are different.
- sliken 4y agoHeat will increase loss of atmosphere, but vaporized isn't the right word. The issue would not be losing even 25% of the atmosphere instead of close to 0.00% per year, but that boiling oceans, steam, and air will hit say 1000F on the size of the GRB and then over the next hours/days mix with the rest and end up with a average of 500F. Even with that, I suspect many but not all species of life would be extinct. Anything that lives in the deep ocean might be mostly unimpacted.