A recent study found that the effects of COVID-19 reached beyond Earth even affecting the moon. During April and May of 2020, when the lockdowns were at their peak, the moon’s night temperature cooled down significantly.
Scientists believe this drop in temperature was the result of less harmful gases being released into the air on Earth during the pandemic. This change affected the temperature of the moon.
Scientific observations from Earth to the moon
A team from the Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad, India, analyzed temperature data from six specific sites. These sites are on the moon’s nearside, which always faces Earth. They utilized the data from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which is equipped with seven thermal infrared cameras. The team tracked the moon’s temperature fluctuations between 2017 and 2023.
Their analysis revealed that all six sites registered a substantial temperature decline of about 14 to 18 degrees Fahrenheit. The sharpest drop was observed in Oceanus Procellarum. Oceanus Procellarum is a vast, dark plain where temperatures plummeted to -286 degrees Fahrenheit.
For comparison, in 2022, the highest temperature at this site was a much warmer -222 degrees Fahrenheit.
Linking terrestrial changes to lunar temperatures
Researchers believe this unexpected lunar cooling was due to a reduction in Earth’s infrared radiation emissions. Normally, Earth absorbs sunlight, heats up, and emits infrared radiation. This radiation is partially trapped by greenhouse gases such as CO2, water vapor, and methane, which then re-emit the heat back into space.
However, the pandemic-induced lockdown led to a sharp decline in these emissions, resulting in less heat being released from Earth. This reduction was further aided by a decrease in atmospheric pollutants and cloud cover over many nations during the lockdown.
Global emissions and lunar consequences led to a cooler temperature of the moon
Significantly, the study noted that global daily CO2 emissions dropped by approximately 17 percent by early April 2020 compared to average levels in 2019. This decline in greenhouse gas emissions closely correlates with the period when the moon’s temperatures fell. This highlighted the direct relationship between terrestrial human activities and extraterrestrial temperature changes.
This unique correlation provides insight into the interconnectedness of Earth’s environmental systems and celestial bodies and also offers a novel method for studying the effects of terrestrial climate change.
The researchers emphasize the need for further studies to conclusively link the observed lunar temperature changes to the reductions in Earth’s emissions during the COVID-19 lockdowns.
This research could pave the way for using lunar environmental data as a new metric for understanding and monitoring Earth’s climate dynamics more broadly. It exemplifies how global events like pandemics can have far-reaching effects, extending beyond our planet.
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