The seasonal effect in one-dimensional Daisyworld

Area of Science:

• Climate science
• Astrobiology
• Ecological modeling

Background:

• Life's ability to regulate planetary climate is crucial for habitability.
• Seasonal variations in solar radiation can significantly influence climate dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of seasonal Solar Radiation Forcing (SRF) on the climate self-regulatory capacity of life.
• To analyze how latitudinal variations in SRF affect habitability and extinction events.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a latitudinal-dependent Daisyworld model to simulate climate regulation under seasonal SRF.
• Conducted sensitivity analyses on parameters such as heat diffusion, heat capacity, and population death rate.

Main Results:

• Seasonal SRF creates harsher conditions in high latitudes, leading to annual extinctions and reduced climate regulation capacity.
• Life's temperature regulation is less effective during summers due to higher SRF anomalies, narrowing the range of SRF over which life can regulate climate.
• Irreversible global extinction is triggered when life's regulatory capacity is exceeded at the poles.

Conclusions:

• Seasonal SRF significantly diminishes life's climate self-regulatory capability, particularly in high latitudes.
• The model's robustness was confirmed through extensive sensitivity analyses, supporting the generality of the findings.
• The study has implications for understanding habitability under varying SRF, including Milankovitch cycles.