SUNLESS EARTH
太阳熄灭之日
Q. What would happen to the Earth if the Sun suddenly switched off?
Q．如果太阳某一天突然灭了，地球会怎么样？
——Many, Many readers
——许许多多无穷无尽的读者
A. THIS IS PROBABLY THE single most popular submission to What If.
A．这个问题可能是What If栏目收到的最多的问题了……
Part of why I haven 8217;t answered it is that it 8217;s been answered already. A Google search for “what if the Sun went out” turns up a lot of excellent articles thoroughly analyzing the situation.
那为什么我到现在都不回答这个问题呢？部分原因是这个问题已经被回答过了。随手谷歌一下“太阳熄灭了会怎么样”就能找到许许多多详细分析这种情况的好文章。
However, the rate of submission of this question continues to rise, so I 8217;ve decided to do my best to answer it.
不过，自从前几期讲到了日落，问这个问题的人就更多了，所以我还是尽我所能回答一下。
If the Sun went out . . .
如果太阳熄灭了……
We won 8217;t worry about exactly how it happens. We 8217;ll just assume we figured out a way to fast-forward the Sun through its evolution so that it becomes a cold, inert sphere. What would the consequences be for us here on Earth?
我们不用在意太阳是怎么熄灭的，假设我们找到了一个办法，能像快进一样加速太阳的老化过程，直到它变成一个又寒冷又荒芜的大球体。那对于在地球上的我们来说，是好还是坏呢？
Let 8217;s look at a few . . .
先来看看一些好处……
Reduced risk of solar flares: In 1859, a massive solar flare and geomagnetic storm hit the Earth. Magnetic storms induce electric currents in wires. Unfortunately for us, by 1859 we had wrapped the Earth in telegraph wires. The storm caused powerful currents in those wires, knocking out communications and in some cases causing telegraph equipment to catch fire.
耀斑威胁减小：1859年，一场来自太阳的巨大的耀斑产生的超级磁暴袭击了地球。磁暴会在电线中产生感应电流，糟糕的是1859年地球上到处都是电报线。磁暴使得这些电线中产生了巨大的电流，切断了人们的通信联系，还导致一些电报设备起火燃烧。
Since 1859, we 8217;ve wrapped the Earth in a lot more wires. If the 1859 storm hit us today, the Department of Homeland Security estimates the economic damage to the US alone would be several trillion dollars-more than every hurricane that has ever hit the US combined. If the Sun went out, this threat would be eliminated.
自1859年以后，地球上的电线更多了。如果1859年那个规模的磁暴袭击如今的地球，据美国国土安全局估计，单是美国就会有数万亿美元的经济损失——比所有袭击过美国的飓风带来的损失加在一起还要多。如果太阳熄灭了，那这个威胁就不复存在了。