NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Based on cosmological rates, it is probable that at least once in the last gigayear the Earth has been irradiated by a gamma-ray burst (GRB) in our Galaxy from within 2 kpc. We have performed the first detailed computation of the effects on the Earth’s atmosphere of one such impulsive event: A 10 s 100 kJ mϪ2 burst penetrates to the stratosphere causing globally averaged ozone depletion of 35%, with depletion reaching 55% at some latitudes. Significant depletion persists for over 5 years after the burst. A 50% decrease in ozone column density leads to approximately 3 times the normal UVB (280–315 nm; a wavelength band that ozone significantly absorbs and that living organisms are sensitive to) flux, and widespread extinctions are likely, based on extrapolation from sensitivity of modern organisms. Additional effects include a shot of nitrate fertilizer and NO2 opacity in the visible, providing a cooling perturbation to the climate over a similar timescale. These results lend support to the hypothesis that a GRB may have initiated the late Ordovician mass extinction (Melott et al.). Subject headings: astrobiology — gamma rays: bursts Online material: color figures, mpeg animation