Chapter 72: Ice Cores, Annual Rings
In fact, Zhou Cheng didn't care much about what the subsequent verification actions would eventually verify, nor did he care whether human civilization in the feudal era could produce enough carbon dioxide to eventually bring about changes in the Earth's atmosphere that were huge enough to be detected by distant alien civilizations.
At this stage, it doesn't matter.
What matters is whether this idea can be verified.
Zhou Cheng simply proposed an idea that met the existing preconditions. Then, regardless of whether it was proved or falsified, he could use the results to revise the preconditions, and then propose the idea again based on the new conditions.
In this way, we move forward step by step, advance step by step, narrow the scope step by step, and finally get closer to the truth.
If Zhou Cheng came up with a seemingly brilliant possibility, but there was no means of verifying this possibility, and it could neither be proved nor disproven, then he would be in trouble.
At this moment, it is obvious that the two key points raised by Zhou Cheng can be verified through existing technical means.
Liu Yu also realized this, and her spirits lifted.
After quickly packing up, the two of them arrived at a conference room. After a short wait, the scholars summoned arrived at their respective locations.
These scholars can be roughly divided into two types.
The first type is mainly composed of geologists, meteorologists and climatologists, and archaeologists, while the second type is mainly composed of astronomers, chemists and space physicists.
Under the gaze of the first decision maker, Zhou Cheng took the microphone.
"I invited everyone here today because I want to verify two things with you.
The first question is, during the feudal era, did the activities of our human civilization cause changes to the Earth's atmosphere that could theoretically be observed by a distant advanced alien civilization through observational means, thereby confirming the existence of intelligent civilizations on Earth?
Because human civilization on Earth has actually experienced this era, this question seems to be answered by geologists, archaeologists, and meteorologists.
After Zhou Cheng raised this question, the elderly scientists discussed it quietly for a moment before finally responding, "Before we can answer this question, we must first provide a standard. In other words, what level of influence would theoretically allow an advanced alien civilization to detect the existence of intelligent civilizations on Earth?"
The question comes to observational astronomers and space physicists.
They also had a discussion, and after discussing factors that might affect the signal-to-noise ratio, signal loss, the performance limits of optical and infrared telescopes, the cosmic microwave background radiation, and interstellar dust clouds, they gave their answer.
“Take us as an example.
At the peak of human civilization, the farthest exoplanet ever observed was about 1,000 light-years away from the solar system, and the content of various gases in its atmosphere was roughly measured through transit spectroscopy.
We certainly have reason to believe that civilizations more advanced than ours would have stronger observation capabilities than ours. Even at greater distances, they would be able to make more detailed observations of the target planet's atmosphere.
But according to theory, we found that this kind of "fineness" also has an upper limit.
The reason is that there are too many interfering factors in space. A nebula, a stellar flare, the gravitational lensing effect of surrounding stars, and even the ubiquitous cosmic microwave background radiation can all cause a weak signal to be distorted, permanently losing the information it carries.
This process has nothing to do with the level of technology or observation capabilities, because no matter how advanced your observation technology is, you will not be able to interpret anything when faced with a signal that has been interfered with and information has been lost.
Signal 'distortion', which is related to signal strength and distance.
We believe that within 1000 light years, an anomaly in gas content of about 0.1% can be detected, and beyond this distance, such accuracy cannot be achieved;
If the distance is expanded to 10,000 light years, only gas content anomalies of about 1.5% or more can be detected."
Zhou Cheng nodded. "Then let's use a distance of 10,000 light years and the iconic gas carbon dioxide as the benchmark. I need to confirm whether we in the feudal era caused an increase of no less than 1.5% in the carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere?
Did we, at our peak, conduct research on this? Is there clear data?"
The relevant scientists discussed in a low voice for a while, and finally, a white-haired old man stood up and gave an answer.
"Yes, but it's not precise. The approximate figures, depending on the research, are between 0.5% and 7%."
"Is the gap so big?"
"Yes."
The old man was a little helpless: "The growth rate of carbon dioxide content in the earth's atmosphere during the feudal era... This research field is too unpopular, and no one specializes in it.
Even during the heyday of abundant scientific research resources, people only studied this topic as a sideline while researching other topics. After all, there was no point in studying this...
From the perspective of geological research, the so-called feudal era lasted only less than two thousand years in total, which is too short and has no special research value.
From an archaeological and historical perspective, whether or not the carbon dioxide content increases, and how much it increases, will at most have some impact on the climate. How big this impact will be still needs to be discussed in detail. The impact on the course of history is too small, and no one will specifically study it.
From the perspective of meteorology and climate, the reasons are similar to those of geology. Research is usually based on the smallest unit of tens of thousands of years, and the overall climate change of the earth does not pay special attention to this aspect.
Even when studying modern climate and the impact of increasing carbon dioxide levels on the Earth's climate, people are more concerned with comparing the climate tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of years ago with the present.
The feudal era is a small stage that can be skimmed over with a cursory study without wasting too much time.
Even the Neolithic and Paleolithic periods are more valuable than the Feudal period, because they lasted longer.”
Zhou Cheng nodded gently: "Do we have the ability to research this topic now?"
The old man said without thinking, "Yes. It's still the same method, but it's just focused on the past two thousand years."
For studies of such close-range ages, some fossil, geological, and marine sediment research methods are not very useful, but there are two more suitable methods.
1. Antarctic ice core.
Second, tree rings."
Zhou Cheng and Liu Yu looked at each other and breathed a sigh of relief.
Whatever the research method, it is not important. What is important is that we have the ability to accurately confirm it through modern scientific research methods. That is enough.
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