The Sun generates its energy through a process called nuclear fusion. In its core, hydrogen atoms fuse together under the forces of extreme pressure and heat to form helium atoms. So, if someone were to hit the imaginary pause button on every hydrogen atom in the Sun’s core, the countdown would begin to total darkness.
A little over 8 minutes later, sunlight would stop reaching Earth. The first thing you’d notice would be that daylight and blue skies would disappear. But you´d be treated to a breathtaking panorama of the stars like you`ve never seen before.
Even though it could be the middle of the day, you could see the Milky Way stretching across the sky. Constellations would be clearer and more pronounced than ever.
Total darkness at a time when you are used to always having light could leave you feeling confused and disorientated. With the Sun in standby mode, you could lose sleep, feel moody, and even have trouble thinking straight.
On the other hand, 24 hours without the Sun would be a great night of feasting for all the nocturnal animals of the world.
For plants, which rely on photosynthesis, the challenge from the lack of light would be immediate. A lot of them could survive 24 hours without sunlight. But some plants would struggle and die, which could have further ripple effects on the food chain afterward.
This would most likely have the biggest impact on marine life. A 24-hour blackout would significantly disrupt the growth cycles of plankton. This is the base of the food chain and would affect every marine animal, even the largest predators.
Lucky for us, the sudden darkness wouldn’t mean that we’d have no light or energy at all. Most of our power infrastructure around the world would still work. Solar power would obviously be in a time-out. But this would put a lot of pressure on our energy systems. As the day progressed, there would be power shortages, blackouts, and heating system failures.
So, you’d better bundle up in something warm. Within an hour of no sunlight, the global surface temperature would begin to drop. Don`t worry. It wouldn’t fall to freezing right away. That’s because of the way our atmosphere retains heat.
But temperatures around the world would be dropping with each passing moment. Good thing this blackout is only 24 hours because, after one week, you’d be dealing with temperatures well below 0 °C (32 °F).
So, you wouldn’t be ice skating in the tropics just yet, but you would see frost accumulating in places completely unaccustomed to the cold. There are already plenty of places on Earth where sunlight is rare or entirely absent for up to a month or more. In polar regions like Northern Canada, Scandinavia, and Antarctica, the winter has months of darkness.
The people living in these parts of the world have to deal with this every year. Luckily, we’ve got artificial light that mimics daylight, which we can use to make the 24 hours feel like nothing more than a blip.
And just like that, Earth would complete a full rotation on its axis, and the Sun’s process of nuclear fusion would kick start again as if it was just in sleep mode. 8 minutes and 20 seconds later, and you’re back to being bathed in the warmth and light of the Sun.
