Could Pouring All of Earth’s Water onto the Sun Cause an Unexpected Catastrophe? What Would Happen?
Since ancient times, people have debated the workings of space. However, none of us have ever doubted the existence of the Sun.
In fact, according to scientists, the Sun is just an ordinary star. It consists of 73% hydrogen, 25% helium, and a small amount of heavier elements. However, in about 5 billion years, the Sun’s life cycle will come to an end, and the hydrogen inside will be depleted. The Sun will begin to enter the phase of burning helium in its core. Meanwhile, in the outer layer of the Sun, the reaction of combining two hydrogen atoms into helium will continue to occur.
When it becomes a red giant star, the outer layer of the Sun will expand to the orbit of Mars, swallowing Mercury and Venus. Although Mars will not be consumed by the Sun, it will drift out of the Sun’s atmospheric influence. As for Earth, even if our blue planet is not engulfed, the temperature will rise to catastrophic levels, leading to the annihilation of life.
After helium is depleted, the Sun will become a hot, dense white dwarf surrounded by a planetary nebula. Eventually, this white dwarf will cool down and fade away until it becomes a black dwarf someday. However, even theoretically, this process will take an incredibly long time.
So, if we were to pour all the water from Earth onto the Sun, could we extinguish this star?
Pouring water onto the Sun cannot extinguish this star.
According to scientists, the answer is that we cannot extinguish the Sun this way. The Sun is not a fire that burns due to oxygen like on Earth. Instead, in the vacuum of space, the Sun exists thanks to nuclear fusion that converts hydrogen into helium.
Therefore, if we were to pour water onto the Sun, we would actually be fueling this star. Instead of extinguishing it, this action would only make the Sun larger, hotter, and much brighter. Water is actually fuel for the Sun. Thus, pouring water onto the Sun is akin to trying to extinguish a fire with gasoline. The concerning part is that the additional mass created by the water would make the Sun heavier. This is truly a bad idea.
If Water Were Poured onto the Sun, Earth Would Face Catastrophic Doom
Pouring water would only make the Sun larger, hotter, and much brighter.
If we keep adding water, sooner or later, the Sun will collapse under its own weight, leading to unimaginable disasters for other planets and especially for life on Earth.
On the other hand, if we were to use all of Earth’s water to extinguish the Sun, what would happen to our blue planet? It is clear that water is essential for life on Earth. However, using all of the water to pour onto the Sun would result in a catastrophic extinction event for fish and other marine life.
Furthermore, deep-sea creatures would not withstand the sudden change in pressure. At that point, Earth would be surrounded only by land. Without oceans, our blue planet would lack clouds and rain.
Earth faces the risk of no longer having life after the Sun collapses.
The oceans on Earth play a crucial role in absorbing massive amounts of CO2 and heat emitted from the Sun. They also distribute heat across the planet and make life more bearable. Therefore, once the oceans disappear, temperatures would rapidly rise above 120 degrees Celsius. Everything around would become unbearably hot, leading to wildfires everywhere.
No water means that Earth will have no life. Wildfires would eliminate the habitats of animal species. Everything would wither away, and there would be no place left to live on Earth. At this point, Earth would resemble a vast desert.
