Tropical Planet Possible?

[Deleted]

So there has to be an entire artic planet as well?

There was an "Iceball earth" in wich, from pole to tropics, the whole Earth was frozen over; so yes that is possible.
A bit of nerdy science:
Basicly any temperature is possible for a planet or moon. (the difference is small between the 2) This is mainly because a planet/ moons temperature is regulated by its atmosphere, orbital distance to its sun/planet and its composition.

As example Venus is now a hellish hothouse; it is even hotter then Mercury wich is much closer to the sun. This because the greenhouse gasses Venus' vulcanoes spew out are heating it up to temperatures above 460 degree C, where Mercury hasn't got any atmosphere for any heat to be trapped in.

And we can see from especially the "ice giants" Neptune and Uranus, that extremely cold plantes are also possible; and this especially when they form at larger distances from a star. These kind of objects, like Neptunes moon Titan, are even possible to create weather in wich it rains liquid Methane and other substances that are a gas on Earth..... so even a shower of Liquid Nitrogeon is a possibility. But also a shower of Iron is possible if a planet is hot enough.

Also the higher an objects atmospheric pressure, the quicker it heats up; and how quicker something freezes or boils. Even on Earth the difference between sealevel and high up in the mountains this can been seen. Water boils at 100 degrees C at sealevel, yet high up in the mountains it can boil at 80 degrees or lower.... and that kinda sucks when you want to cook you meal :P So you can imagine what happens with that water when the atmosphere isn't there at all -> it vaporizes, yet when the atmosphere is dense enough water turns to ice.


And yes, as StarbuyPWNDyou said; basicly anything thats possible by the laws of physics will possibly happen; weather it does now, in the past, or the future.

[Archangel Tyrael]

@Mirun - Thanks for fucking my brain.

[Puck]

I'd say yes. The Jurassic period was pretty tropical.

[Deleted]

@Mirun - Thanks for fucking my brain.

Heheh, your welcome :P

[GW2lacky]

Yes, its entirely possible. This planet has had near-total tropical environments before, can't see why it can't happen other places.

[Deleted]

Given the right conditions, is it possible to have an entire planet be tropical/or nice and warm all year round?

Define "nice and warm"

It's possible yes, but given the physics involved it's very unlikely, and if there are people on this planet then some of them will be complaining that it's too dam hot.

Also because orbits are never perfectly circular, either the orbit of a plant around it's local star, or the orbit of the star around the galaxy, then any period of 'nice and warm and tropical' isn't going to last forever there will always be variations in climate no matter where you are.

[Tomana]

Given the right conditions, is it possible to have an entire planet be tropical/or nice and warm all year round?

Yes, see the "greenhouse" periods of our Earth's history.
Actually, the Earth with ice is more of an exception than a rule during its history. Too bad we're stuck in the bad phase.

[Archangel Tyrael]

Yes, see the "greenhouse" periods of our Earth's history.
Actually, the Earth with ice is more of an exception than a rule during its history. Too bad we're stuck in the bad phase.

Why? I love snow/cold weather.

[Tomana]

Why? I love snow/cold weather.

It is certainly a valid opinion . However, I would much more like to leave on a green-house Earth, with warm weather, almost no seasons and a really hot ocean (up to 40°C).

Also, the humanity is currently in a bad place because we're just in a warm interlude between two huge glacial ages. We don't know how much that interlude is gonna last (estimates vary from 15 to 50 thousand years), but once it's over, it's ice all over again. And unless humanity can prevent it, the civilization will be at least badly shaken by it.

[Beavis]

The polar regions don't appear to have had a tropical climate. They just were warmer than they are now. Think British Columbia, not Brazil.

[Tomana]

The polar regions don't appear to have had a tropical climate. They just were warmer than they are now. Think British Columbia, not Brazil.

Depends on what exact period you're talking about, but there are quite some periods where even high-latitude places had sub-tropical climates. But you have to go way back for that, that's true. The last 45 million years were just meh, cold and colder

[steveyboy]

So there has to be an entire artic planet as well?

Yes

Its called Hoth...

[Archangel Tyrael]

It is certainly a valid opinion . However, I would much more like to leave on a green-house Earth, with warm weather, almost no seasons and a really hot ocean (up to 40°C).

Also, the humanity is currently in a bad place because we're just in a warm interlude between two huge glacial ages. We don't know how much that interlude is gonna last (estimates vary from 15 to 50 thousand years), but once it's over, it's ice all over again. And unless humanity can prevent it, the civilization will be at least badly shaken by it.

I would love to live in the Glacial Age

We'll probably have the means to, in 15 to 50 thousand years

[Rampant Rabbit]

Pluto is entirely arctic, as are Titan, Triton, Io, etc. (even thoug they are moons and Pluto ain't considered a planet).

As for entirely tropical - it is highly unlikely, because its star's heat wouldn't disperse equally at all latitudes.
Entire planets can only be either frozen (like Pluto and the like) or overheated (like Venus, due to peculiar atmosphere). Any planets with milder climate than "frozen" or "overheated" would have different climates on different latitudes.

What if a planet had 2 suns? If that's even remotely possible.

[Kalyyn]

It is certainly a valid opinion . However, I would much more like to leave on a green-house Earth, with warm weather, almost no seasons and a really hot ocean (up to 40°C).

Oh lord, hot oceans... see, I have to disagree with you, because anytime the ocean is warm, this happens frequently:

I'd have to live at least a thousand miles inland to feel safe from the bus-sized sharks. Even then, I could never use a swimming pool or go near a lake...

What if a planet had 2 suns? If that's even remotely possible.

That is indeed possible. In fact, binary stars are turning out to be not nearly as rare as originally thought. And some of them do have planets.

[Falrinn]

I would love to live in the Glacial Age

We'll probably have the means to, in 15 to 50 thousand years

Yeah, considering we currently live only 10 thousand years after the invention of agriculture, who knows what technological advancements will be made in the next 15 thousand years. Even without faster-then-light travel, we could easily have the first colonies outside the solar system by then.



Anyways, as for a totally tropical planet. It's not impossible, but it would require a lot of extremely specific factors. It would have to have a very thick atmosphere capable of evenly distributing heat across the entire planet's surface. It would need to orbit far enough away from the host star to not get too hot. It would have to have air currents capable of distributing water across the entire planet to prevent desertification.

[GennGreymane]

i dont know

that would imply that most of the planet would be in tropical temps including the poles, meaning the mid section of the planet is more likly to be desert.

[Coombs]

The pressure of the planet would have to be within a few parameters, such as enough pressure so that sublimation of water doesn't occur, and not so much pressure that a lot of the toxic gases exist in liquid form. Then we have the question of tectonics of the planet, the constant changing of the planets crust would affect mountains which would then effect rainfall, which could change a planet from complete tropical type fauna into a grassland or desert. Probability is against it, but I'm sure it could happen at some point in a planets cycle. But it would not be permanent.

[fizzbob]

100% possible , they found out that there are more binary systems than previously thought but even in a single star system, of course it's possible. this planet would have fit that description at various times throught its existence

[Coombs]

There are several planets out there that are estimated to have a surface of water that's 200C temperature and an atmosphere that's almost completely steam. Because of this, it is believed that Oxygen and Hydrogen must both exist on these planets (assuming it's not some unknown chemical that has a water like composition and properties), and due to the temperature, it's what you might consider tropical, at least considering how difficult it'd be to find a planet that has EXACTLY the same conditions as our own. These planets are fairly close. Sure, we probably couldn't live in such humidity without some protection from it, but on the grand scale of things, they're not far off.

I think for water to exist as liquid at 200 degrees Celsius it requires a pressure that CO2 would only exist as liquid, so plant life wouldn't fair too well. Not sure on the numbers but, I'm fairly certain that is right.