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The present-day diurnal climate zone of Pluto spans from 30°N to 30°S, encompassing 50% of the total surface area, due to the current axial tilt of 120°. As obliquity changes to rise from this value, the diurnal zone will expand to the maximum from 37°N to 37°S (covering a total area of 60%), which will be reached in roughly 600,000 years.
The surface pressure of the atmosphere of Pluto, measured by New Horizons in 2015, is about 1 Pa (10 μbar), roughly 1/100,000 of Earth's atmospheric pressure. The temperature on the surface is 40 to 60 K (−230 to −210 °C), [ 6 ] but it quickly rises with altitude due to a methane-generated greenhouse effect .
The buildup of nitrogen is due to Pluto's vast distance from the Sun. At the equator, temperatures can drop to −240 °C (−400.0 °F; 33.1 K), causing nitrogen to freeze as water would freeze on Earth. The same polar wandering effect seen on Pluto would be observed on Earth were the Antarctic ice sheet several times larger. [101]
"Pluto is the first planetary body we know of where the atmospheric energy budget is dominated by solid-phase haze particles instead of by gases." Pluto is way cooler than it should be, and now we ...
This has led to increases in mean global temperature, or global warming. The likely range of human-induced surface-level air warming by 2010–2019 compared to levels in 1850–1900 is 0.8 °C to 1.3 °C, with a best estimate of 1.07 °C. This is close to the observed overall warming during that time of 0.9 °C to 1.2 °C.
For 76 years, Pluto was considered out solar system's ninth planet. So what caused it to lose its planetary status? Find out on this episode of "Space, Down to Earth"!
Pluto was considered a planet up until 2006, when researchers at the International Astronomical Union voted to "demote" it to dwarf planet.
The study of extraterrestrial atmospheres is an active field of research, [1] both as an aspect of astronomy and to gain insight into Earth's atmosphere. [2] In addition to Earth, many of the other astronomical objects in the Solar System have atmospheres. These include all the giant planets, as well as Mars, Venus and Titan.