What if it rained in every corner of the Earth at the same time for a year?

If you think this theory is nonsense, you are wrong. Because the one-year rain on Earth actually happened over 200 million years ago. That is the Carnian Pluvial event, a major event of global climate change and biological rotation that occurred during the Carnian period.

Earth has rained continuously for more than 1 million years

The Carnian Plugvial event, also known as the Carnian Plugvial period, occurred in a few million years (about 234-232 million years ago), between the Julian and Tuvalian dates of the Carnian period.

The theory of this event comes from forensic geologist - Alastair Ruffell of Queen's University Belfast, UK after studying the rocks near his childhood home and discovering the strangeness. Specifically, the sediments dating from the Triassic period in this place are mostly orange-red, which proves that the area once turned into a wetland after experiencing a period of aridity. And for unknown reasons, an already arid climate suddenly turns wet and stays that way for over a million years.

This change intrigued Alastair Ruffell when he first found these rocks in 1980. But because he was too busy with work, he temporarily put off searching for a solution to this puzzle. It wasn't until 1987 that Alastair Ruffell happened to meet paleontologist Michael Simms. They suggested that the Late Triassic extinction and the mysterious wet period were related.

And they called this period the Carnian Plugvial event. During this event period, humidity increased markedly across the globe, disrupting the arid climate of the Late Triassic. This humidity is related to the sudden increase in rainfall during this time.

The real "culprit" behind all this is volcanic eruptions in the Triassic period. These eruptions have caused huge carbon dioxide emissions for a long time. After volcanic activity, the Earth became so wet that clouds were pushed from the sea into the land. It started to really rain all over the Earth.

From the sediment found, forensic geologists discovered the Carnian Plugvial event.

Three decades later, many scientists have confirmed that not only in England but in many parts of the Earth, there was a mass of rain during the Carnian period. A special feature of this period is that the Earth entered a period of rain lasting 1 to 2 million years after millions of years in a state of arid climate. Nearly anywhere geologists have found rock with these signs, they have determined that there was a place where there was a period of prolonged rain during the Carnian Plugvial event.

Most notably, after this Carnian Plugvial event, the Earth dried up again and underwent some major evolutionary changes. That is the appearance of a group of rare reptiles, also known as early dinosaurs. And the event also paved the way for the spectacular evolution of dinosaurs later.

This event also marked the appearance of early dinosaurs.

In addition to dinosaurs, the Carnian Plugvial event also left major changes to corals and marine species. From this time, corals began to form reefs, marine life evolved "modern" and closer to species alive today. Scientists even say that this period may be the time when the first mammals appeared on Earth.

In May 2017, scientists held the first conference on the Carnian Plugvial event at the German Institute for Advanced Study. And since then, many scientists have studied more deeply about the Carnian Plugvial event.

What if it rains continuously for 1 year?

From the observations of the Carnian Plugvial event, scientists conducted a year-long continuous rain experiment to find out what would happen if the Earth appeared again in a phenomenon like the Carnian period. The results of the experiment have been divided into the following phases:

• From 1 to 3 weeks: When rain falls continuously for many days in every corner of the planet, flooding will occur, low altitude areas will be submerged. The longer the rain lasts, the larger the flooded area will be. Plants cannot photosynthesize, humans and animals are forced to move to higher places to survive.

If it rains continuously for 1 year, the Earth will fall into a state of flooding, much of the land area will disappear.

• One month: After a month of continuous rain, many power stations will be damaged, the power system and communication facilities will be destroyed, the grid needs to be cut off to ensure safety.
• Two months: Many coastal cities around the world will be submerged.
• Five months: Crops will die, many animals without a place to live will also be in danger due to the broken food chain.
• Six months: The land area on Earth will be reduced by one-third, floods, tsunamis and earthquakes will occur one after another. Humanity may be in danger of competing for high and safe lands.
• Eight months: The land area will continue to decrease, many coastal states begin to disappear.

Human life is turned upside down, lives are also threatened.

• Ten months: Food reserves will be exhausted, mankind must fight to get food.
• Mười một tháng: Virus và vi khuẩn có hại sẽ sinh sôi qua các xác chết của loài vật, sinh vật. Dân số loài người bắt đầu suy giảm.
• Một năm: Một nửa diện tích Trái đất sẽ bị nhấn chìm, mạng sống của loài người cũng rơi vào tình trạng nguy kịch.

Kết quả của nghiên cứu được công bố trên tạp chí Science Advances vào tháng 9/2020.