Every year on July 8, a strange atmospheric phenomenon takes place. 99% of the Earth population experiences sunlight at the same time. Know why it happens.
A strange phenomenon takes place every year today, on July 8, but nobody has taken notice of it before! It appears that just for a couple of minutes, on this date every year, 99% of the Earth population is placed inside a sunlit. Yes, 99% of the population can experience sunlight today. This event will not repeat itself again on any other day, including the summer solstice on June 21. This means that today is the only day where about 7.7 billion people in the world will experience sunlight simultaneously. But the question is, why does it happen and why only on July 8. Read on to find out.
It was first reported by a Reddit post where user GiddySwine claimed that “every year on July 8th at about 11:15 UTC, approximately 99.164% of the world’s population is between dawn and dusk”. While the claim may seem outrageous at first since our common understanding tells us that at a time, only one half of the Earth faces the Sun, so the number should always be at around 50% no matter what the day it is. But it turns out that is actually not true.
99% of Earth population to experience sunlight simultaneously
EarthSky verified these widely circulating claims by running an analysis of the data, and has found that the statements are true, but only on grounds of technicality. It stated, “Combining Timeanddate’s sun data with 2022 population data from the Center for International Earth Science Information Network at Columbia University, we found that it’s nighttime for just under 80 million people on July 8 at 11:15 UTC”.
The reason this happens is because of the twilight zones. Twilight zones are where the Sun has gone below the horizon but the sky still has a faint glow due to reflection of the Sun’s rays from the atmosphere. Calculating all the twilight zones where indirect sunlight also reaches makes this phenomenon possible. As for why this happens on July 8 instead of June 21 is because after the summer solstice, the Sun travels southwards which means the Sun’s rays reach up to Indonesia and the Philippines while the northern regions still get some light before it retreats. The time when this phenomenon will take place today is 11:15 UTC or 4:45 PM IST. So, if you want to be part of the 99% of the world and experience the same sunlight, make sure to step out for a minute.