3 ms·
> The Sun delivers ~170,000 TWh per year. It delivers 170,000 TWh per hour (i.e. 170,000 TW)! 3.14 * (6378km)^2 * 1300W/m^2 = 166PW It's a ludicrous amount o
by grues-dinner 1y ago
> The Sun delivers ~170,000 TWh per year.
It delivers 170,000 TWh per hour (i.e. 170,000 TW)!
3.14 * (6378km)^2 * 1300W/m^2 = 166PW
It's a ludicrous amount of energy - roughly the entire human annual energy usage is delivered every 70 minutes. The whole problem of AGW is that even a tiny modulation in absolute terms of things that affect the steady state (i.e. greenhouse gases) can have substantial effects. But it's also, presumably, going to be key to fixing the problem, if we do fix it.