A slight change in the sun’s position could cause
the Earth to become (UN)inhabitable for all life.

A knowledge known by all is the dependency our planet Earth has on the sun to continuously produce life. The sun produces energy which in turn allows us to receive solar energy to push processes both physical and biological to help support life on Earth. The role of the sun since the 14 century B.C.E. (Before common era) was providing heat, warmth, and sunlight to aid the production of plants and crops. The sun was undoubtedly worshiped by the masses of people like the Egyptian and the Maya, believing that this life giving force was a divine power that controlled survival. Worshipers had the right idea about the benefits of the sun and just decided to acknowledge and honor it in a different way.

Plants are an essential resource on the planet because they take in carbon dioxide and provide needed nutrients and CO2, key parts in the existence of human beings. Constant production of life forces will disappear from Earth due to the disturbance in the chain of life and cause a domino effect if the sun’s position were to change.

Calculated energy rates from the sun have been reported to differ slightly on a day-to-day basis. Different energy rates can affect the distribution of how much energy is received on the Earth’s surface and where.If the solar energy output changes, The production of clouds will be disrupted in the atmosphere and this will affect how water distribution is conducted as well. However, what if the sun was pulled closer to the earth, how would it affect the life as we know it? If the sun was pulled closer to the sun, a few things will occur.

The heat being received initially from the sun would increase exponentially causing the ocean’s temperature to rise. The raise in ocean temperatures would cause aquatic life to deplete especially if species need certain temperatures to thrive and reproduce. In the article “Ocean Warming Is One of the Big Climate Change Question Marks” written by the U.S. Government of Accountability Office on November 30, 2023 is states: “Marine heatwaves can stress and kill marine life and disrupt ecosystems. For example, they can cause coral bleaching.” (U.S GAO). Some species will be forced to migrate in to new area to continue reproduction and this could lead to more “invasive” species and overpopulation. Increased temperature will also cause coral bleaching, this means the coral will start to get rid of the algae that creates their color and results in the death of reefs and biospheres that are dependent on them.

Negative effects on humans due to increased temperature can be heat related illnesses such as rashes, exhaustion, and cramps. Dehydration would be a very common occurrence along with poor air quality that could trigger underlying complications within the body and cause the immune system to become challenged. The intense increase in temperature would make day to day activities limited due to essentially having a constant heat lamp beaming down on every part of the planet. If we were to be reptiles, this would be perfect for survival however I will leave that discussion to the theorists.

Now what would happen to the world if the sun was positioned farther away? When you keep heat on an item constantly, keeping it warm and comfortable but suddenly taking the heat away what happens? The item becomes colder and colder due to the rapid energy release until it no longer has warmth, this results in the item becoming very chilled. This is kind of similar to what would happen to the earth if you were to pull away the heat source, being the sun. The bodies of water such as the oceans, rivers, and bays would freeze over because there will no longer be supported temperature to keep the water in it’s liquid state. The Earth is just the right distance from the sun to keep water in it’s liquid form due to the balanced reasonable atmospheric temperature. You can just imagine when the atmospheric pressure is below freezing how matters originally in liquid states will change and cause challenge for further use.

Think of the worst snow day you’ve ever experienced, now imagine a snow day every single day all below -100 Fahrenheit. According to article “ What would Earth be without the sun?” Written by Wordopolis, It claims that “ The problem is that the temperature would continue to drop steadily. Within a year, the average global surface temperature could dip well below -100º F! By that time, the top layers of the oceans of the world would have frozen over.” (Wordopolis). We would go from living to the tropic to living to tundras within about 10 minutes of the sun disappearing. Vise Versa effects of what would happen if the sun was closer would occur and basically make life of earth uninhabitable and would leave humans on a constant hunt for warmth outside of their domains.

In conclusion, the change in the overall distance of the sun’s position would undoubtedly disturb how the earth has already adapted to be, causing rapid changes in ecosystems, habitats, and biomes. The world, which was once a piece of floating compacted rock, has adapted an accepted distance from the sun and has physically gone through evolutional changes to retain and successfully continue the production of new life at every turn. The Earth nurtures the Plants which produce oxygen and nutrients to sustain human life, aquatic life, animals, geographical landmarks, and so much more. A change in the sun’s position would essentially make Earth food on the stove. If you make it too hot (the sun being too close to the Earth), water will evaporate leading majority of specimens dependent on it to die off. The Earth would become a constantly overheated rock that continues to burn off anything remaining on the surface, survival rates will reduce and force new adaptation. However, if you make it too cold you’ll be left with froze over oceans and depleting temperatures that would eventually turn the Earth into the next pluto.