During the Covid lockdown, a decrease in earth’s temperature and pollution was recorded. Now scientists have claimed that its effect was seen till the moon. Indian researchers have claimed in a study that during April and May, when strict lockdown was imposed, the temperature of the moon also became lower than normal. This claim has been made in the study of the Royal Astronomical Society.
K Durga Prasad and G Ambili of the Physical Research Laboratory collected details of the temperature of different locations on the Moon during 2017 to 2023. PRL Director Anil Bhardwaj says that his group has done a very important work and it is a different research of its kind. Research found that compared to other years, the temperature in the year of lockdown was found to be 8 to 10 Kelvin lower than normal.
Scientists say that due to stoppage of human activities on Earth, radiation reduced and its effect was also seen on the Moon. The temperature on the Moon had decreased in 2020. In the next two years, the temperature increased again because all the activities on earth had started again.
This study was conducted after taking data from NASA’s Lunar Orbiter. According to the report of Times of India, Prasad said that seven years’ data was taken for this study. Out of these, three years are before 2020 and three years after. He said that human activities on earth increase the emissions of greenhouse gases. After this, due to the radiation from the Earth’s atmosphere, the temperature of the Moon is also affected.
Prasad said, the Moon acts as an amplifier of the Earth’s radiation. From this research we can see how humans can influence the temperature of the moon. He said that the temperature of the moon is also affected due to solar activity and seasonal flux variation. However, the study shows that this effect on the Moon during the lockdown is a result of peace on Earth. This research says that more data will be needed to study the relationship between changes in Earth’s radiation and changes on the moon’s surface.
