<p>I have a hypothetical situation, and I am specifically interested in how this situation would affect the weather.</p>

<p>I have asked this question elsewhere, however I feel that nobody with any expertise on weather systems or meteorology has responded to my question.  So I was hoping that someone here could help me out.</p>

<p>The hypothetical situation is as follows:</p>

<p>Positioned above a large landmass on Earth (America or Russia for instance) is an immense flat disc, at least two thousand miles in diameter. It is thin and has comparatively little weight or mass, but it is also opaque and does not let any light through.</p>

<p>This flat disc is positioned roughly 40-50 miles away from the surface of our planet, and the object is locked in with the rotation of the Earth so that it says above the landmass. This disc blocks any sunlight hitting it from reaching the surface.</p>

<p>In such a hypothetical situation, what effects would this disc have to our atmosphere and weather?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-20T16:17:43.963Z
This might do better over on worldbuilding.stackexchange.com, being less about any actual planet and more about science fiction. But maybe an atmospheric scientist here will feel like being suitably speculative ;-) (I'm busy wondering what this disc is made of, and how it keeps station)
Semidiurnal Simon
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-20T16:21:13.037Z
"40-50 miles" is way above the cruising altitude of commercial airplanes - the altitude record is held by a purpose built plane by NASA and it still only got to some 18 mi - but still well within the atmosphere - you'd need to double the altitude. The logistics of your operation is going to be ... daunting. Maybe a constellation of weather balloons ... that have propellers to counteract drift ... powered by ... batteries won't cut it, so maybe microwave lasers? You'd be better off going all the way to geostationary even if that means a bigger sheet.
John Dvorak
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-20T16:29:47.803Z
Since the disc is opaque, it needs to be clarified what happens to the light. Does it bounce back into space, or does it get absorbed and heat up the disc? Also, does it block air as well as light, or does it let the air go through?
John Dvorak
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-20T18:25:31.453Z
Something like a solar eclipse?
Spencer
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-20T18:26:32.423Z
Impossible hypothetical situations should be put on hold. The Stack should deal with the real world, not a fantasy one. This question has far less to do with Earth Science than the unwelcome but relevant mineral identification questions.
Michael Walsby
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-08-20T18:29:42.413Z
a disc this size will probably create a low pressure system where hot moist air will be pulled in on the top,this will create rain and strong winds at the suface this is the best case senario the worst is a continous hurricane.
trond hansen
<meteorology><hypothetical>
Hypothetical: an immense disc blocks sunlight, how does this affect the weather?
Jimmery
# Hypothetical: an immense disc blocks sunlight, how does this affect the weather?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-08-20)

I have a hypothetical situation, and I am specifically interested in how this situation would affect the weather.

I have asked this question elsewhere, however I feel that nobody with any expertise on weather systems or meteorology has responded to my question. So I was hoping that someone here could help me out.

The hypothetical situation is as follows:

Positioned above a large landmass on Earth (America or Russia for instance) is an immense flat disc, at least two thousand miles in diameter. It is thin and has comparatively little weight or mass, but it is also opaque and does not let any light through.

This flat disc is positioned roughly 40-50 miles away from the surface of our planet, and the object is locked in with the rotation of the Earth so that it says above the landmass. This disc blocks any sunlight hitting it from reaching the surface.

In such a hypothetical situation, what effects would this disc have to our atmosphere and weather?

**Tags:** meteorology, hypothetical

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: This might do better over on worldbuilding.stackexchange.com, being less about any actual planet and more about science fiction. But maybe an atmospheric scientist here will feel like being suitably speculative ;-) (I'm busy wondering what this disc is made of, and how it keeps station)  
> **username_2**: "40-50 miles" is way above the cruising altitude of commercial airplanes - the altitude record is held by a purpose built plane by NASA and it still only got to some 18 mi - but still well within the atmosphere - you'd need to double the altitude. The logistics of your operation is going to be ... daunting. Maybe a constellation of weather balloons ... that have propellers to counteract drift ... powered by ... batteries won't cut it, so maybe microwave lasers? You'd be better off going all the way to geostationary even if that means a bigger sheet.  
> **username_2**: Since the disc is opaque, it needs to be clarified what happens to the light. Does it bounce back into space, or does it get absorbed and heat up the disc? Also, does it block air as well as light, or does it let the air go through?  
> **username_3**: Something like a solar eclipse?  
> **username_4**: Impossible hypothetical situations should be put on hold. The Stack should deal with the real world, not a fantasy one. This question has far less to do with Earth Science than the unwelcome but relevant mineral identification questions.  
> **username_5**: a disc this size will probably create a low pressure system where hot moist air will be pulled in on the top,this will create rain and strong winds at the suface this is the best case senario the worst is a continous hurricane.  

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## 0 answers

