Scientists believe Earth may have briefly lost protection from the sun around two million years ago, left to endure the extreme environment of interstellar space as the solar system passed through a dense cloud of gas and dust between stars.
At that time, early human ancestors shared our planet with prehistoric animals like mastodons and sabretooth tigers. It’s also when Earth was in the midst of the ice age that ended only around 12,000 years ago. Ice ages are brought about by a range of factors, including our planet’s tilt and rotation, carbon dioxide levels in its atmosphere, and shifting plate tectonics and volcanic eruptions at its surface. However, given the timing of when scientists think Earth plunged through interstellar space, this research suggests radical changes in our planet’s climate, like the onset and ending of ice ages, could also be influenced by the position of our solar system in our home galaxy.
More specifically, the team behind the new findings suggests the solar system could have encountered a dense patch of interstellar gas and dust as it traversed the Milky Way two million years ago. And that patch may have been thick enough to interfere with a stream of charged particles called the “solar wind” flowing from the sun and impacting Earth, potentially causing plunging temperatures.
“Writer Fuel” is a series of cool real-world stories that might inspire your little writer heart. Check out our Writer Fuel page on the LimFic blog for more inspiration.
“Writer Fuel” is a series of cool real-world stories that might inspire your little writer heart. Check out our Writer Fuel page on the LimFic blog for more inspiration.
