Earth's atmosphere protects the biosphere from nearby supernovae

Geological evidence indicates that a supernova within 100 parsecs of Earth occurs around once per million years. Such nearby supernovas can produce an intense gamma-ray burst and a 100-fold increase of cosmic rays, lasting several centuries. We find that the effect of a short burst of gamma rays is small since they are strongly attenuated before reaching the lower stratosphere. Intense cosmic radiation affects stratospheric ozone but, due to compensating effects in catalytic chemical cycles, ozone depletion is moderate and comparable to that from current anthropogenic emissions. This also holds for the low-oxygen atmosphere during early evolution of terrestrial life. We estimate the increase in aerosol and clouds from a 100-fold increase of cosmic rays exerts a radiative forcing comparable in magnitude but opposite in sign to current anthropogenic climate forcing. We conclude that Earth's atmosphere is effective at shielding the biosphere from nearby supernovae.

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Author Christoudias, T.
Kirkby, J.
Stolzenburg, D.
Pozzer, A.
Sommer, E.
Brasseur, Guy
Kulmala, M.
Lelieveld, J.
Publisher UCAR/NCAR - Library
Publication Date 2024-06-14T00:00:00
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) Not Assigned
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Topic Category geoscientificInformation
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Metadata Date 2025-07-10T20:01:15.893595
Metadata Record Identifier edu.ucar.opensky::articles:27353
Metadata Language eng; USA
Suggested Citation Christoudias, T., Kirkby, J., Stolzenburg, D., Pozzer, A., Sommer, E., Brasseur, Guy, Kulmala, M., Lelieveld, J.. (2024). Earth's atmosphere protects the biosphere from nearby supernovae. UCAR/NCAR - Library. https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7mc947q. Accessed 03 August 2025.

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