Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2012-04-19
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
32 pages, 8 figures. Invited review paper accepted for publication in Reviews of Geophysics
Scientific paper
10.1029/2011RG000375
For more than four decades, scientists have been trying to find an answer to one of the most fundamental questions in paleoclimatology, the `faint young Sun problem'. For the early Earth, models of stellar evolution predict a solar energy input to the climate system which is about 25% lower than today. This would result in a completely frozen world over the first two billion years in the history of our planet, if all other parameters controlling Earth's climate had been the same. Yet there is ample evidence for the presence of liquid surface water and even life in the Archean (3.8 to 2.5 billion years before present), so some effect (or effects) must have been compensating for the faint young Sun. A wide range of possible solutions have been suggested and explored during the last four decades, with most studies focusing on higher concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane or ammonia. All of these solutions present considerable difficulties, however, so the faint young Sun problem cannot be regarded as solved. Here I review research on the subject, including the latest suggestions for solutions of the faint young Sun problem and recent geochemical constraints on the composition of Earth's early atmosphere. Furthermore, I will outline the most promising directions for future research. In particular I would argue that both improved geochemical constraints on the state of the Archean climate system and numerical experiments with state-of-the-art climate models are required to finally assess what kept the oceans on the Archean Earth from freezing over completely.
No associations
LandOfFree
The faint young Sun problem does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with The faint young Sun problem, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The faint young Sun problem will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-4661