A LIGHT IN THE DARK: WHAT LIFE WITHOUT THE SUN MEANS FOR US

July 13, 2024 | 9:04 AM CST

by RYAN ANDERS

Town hall was filled well beyond capacity Friday evening following the bizarre disappearance of the Sun earlier in the day. Mayor Glen Howell called an emergency meeting in the hopes of assuring the people of Honey Grove that all was well, but in the face of no official answers from the top minds of the world, these hopes fell short.

What started like any other meeting quickly devolved into chaos as questions and concerns about the future remained unsolved. Howell responded to comment after comment to the best of his ability, but with increasing paranoia and no facts with which to ground the discussion, it didn’t take long for the conversation to become derailed by speculation and fear. By the end of the meeting, the people of Honey Grove undoubtedly felt more in the dark than when they walked in.

No one knows how long the Sun will be away, but we do have an idea of what will happen should it stay that way.

Dr. Katherine Rivera, professor of physics at the University of North Texas, has spent the last twenty years of her life devoted to the study of climate science and the effects changing temperatures have on our planet. When asked what the biggest threat facing humanity is at this moment, her answer came without hesitation.

“The cold. It sounds simple because it is simple. The Sun warms the Earth. It has for billions of years, radiating pure energy out into space and keeping our planet—and us—alive and warm.”

Dr. Rivera admitted that a perfect formula for understanding exactly what might happen to us likely doesn’t exist, but she emphasized that staying warm is going to be a top priority in the coming days.

“If you take the Sun out of the equation, there is no question that temperatures will drop until the planet reaches thermal equilibrium with its environment, the same way a cup of coffee will reach room temperature over an hour or so. Only in our case, the coffee is Earth and the room temperature—outer space—is somewhere around negative 400 degrees. It won’t take long for the heat our planet has stored up over the eons to radiate out into space. The Earth’s core will likely stay molten for millions of years, but the surface will get very cold, very fast.”

Since The Blink, Dr. Rivera’s husband, Carlos, who works as a meteorologist for the north Texas news station KTXB, has been monitoring air temperatures in Honey Grove with his own personal weather station, and the results are already concerning.

“So within the first half hour—that is, at around 5:30PM—the temperature dropped from 92 degrees Fahrenheit to 86,” Carlos said next to his portable weather station. “That’s six degrees in thirty minutes. Now, that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re going to see a twelve degree drop every hour. Weather is hard to predict. There are a lot of variables that might change the outcome, and the smallest thing can completely alter the end result: a breeze from the gulf, a pressure system moving in, mountain ranges redirecting airflow, so on. We might drop twenty degrees and then see a system of warm air move in from the Gulf and bump the numbers back up. It’s hard to say. So this cooling might be slower than what we’re seeing right now.”

Dr. Rivera was not as hopeful. “It also might be faster. Either way, what is certain is that it’s going to get colder. Temperatures won’t rise in the mornings the way we’re used to seeing. Think of the average drop from midday and midnight. Usually around 40 degrees or so here in Texas. Now picture that rate of decrease as a constant and that’s what we’re facing.”

As for how fast this will happen?

“Below freezing within a week or two, most likely,” Dr. Rivera estimated. “But remember, that’s an average, so it won’t be uniform across the planet. Here and at other hotter equatorial latitudes, we’ll likely be some of the last places on the planet to freeze because of the ground’s stored heat, but even then only by a matter of days. Polar regions are already below freezing, so they have a head start on the falling temperatures.”

Despite the frigid conditions heading our way, Dr. Rivera was quick add that the cold isn’t the only threat we will face.

“Almost every lifeform on our planet depends on the Sun in some way. Starting at the bottom, plants need sunlight to produce energy. That’s grass, trees, flowers, and most importantly for us, crops. With the Sun gone, every single photosynthesizing organism is in the process of dying as we speak. Which means we won’t be having any harvests this year, and since we get more than half our food from farms, we’re going to see food shortages worldwide in the coming months.

“Even if we didn’t depend on plants for food, our alternative food sources do. Cows, goats, deer, and so on eat strictly plant-based diets, so when the plants go, they will as well. Which doesn’t bode well for humanity’s survival.”

Dr. Rivera noted the world will face additional threats should things not get back to normal, such as the stability of the power grid, access to healthcare and basic necessities, and the breakdown of society as the world begins to freeze over, but she sees these as more longterm dangers.

“The cold is going to be the top priority. Exposure and hypothermia will kill people long before starvation has the chance to, so that’s what we need to prepare for.”

While there likely isn’t a plan outlined for what to do in an event such as this, Rivera provided a brief overview of what she believes is the best way to approach the coming days.

“From a strictly scientific view, we will last much longer if we congregate in one central location. If everyone has a generator to heat an entire home for just two people, that’s a waste of fuel. By combining our resources to heat one or two larger buildings, our generators will run for much longer. And anyone who was at town hall earlier will remember just how much heat gathered bodies can produce.

“If we want to survive this, we have to do it together and we have to start preparing now. If we don’t, none of us will live through the end of the year when our planet gets to around minus 100 degrees. Or the year after, when we’re approaching minus 300. Because that’s the unfortunate reality of what’s coming.”

“Unless the Sun comes back,” Carlos added.

But given the current situation, Dr. Rivera argued it is better to prepare for what we cannot survive than to waste time hoping for what we can.

“I implore everyone in Honey Grove to start figuring out how we are to best endure this. Mayor Howell, you must come up with a plan to protect your town based on the science, not based on the fear and paranoia of rumor and conspiracy. Please, make the right decision and start organizing centralized shelters for the community.

“We can’t do this as scattered, separate tribes,” she said. “We absolutely have to work together. If we don’t, the world is going to be a lot colder and a lot darker in a few months. Not because of the Sun, but because we’ll all be gone.”

---

***As of the publication of this article, the temperature in Honey Grove, Texas has dropped to 74 degrees. According to Carlos’ historical weather records for the month of July, the temperature should be climbing back into the lower 90s by this time of morning.

Instead, it continues to drop.