99% of World Population to Experience Sunlight or Twilight Simultaneously

Kathmandu. Due to the tilt of the Earth and the ongoing summer in the Northern Hemisphere, about 99 percent of the world's population, approximately 8.2 billion people, will experience daylight or twilight simultaneously on Wednesday. This event will occur around 11:10 AM Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). In Nepali time, this will be at 5:05 PM. This short period, lasting only about a minute, will see sunlight in the most populated areas of the Earth. Very few people will experience night at this time. Most parts of North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia, where the world's population resides, will be illuminated. However, Australia, New Zealand, parts of Southeast Asia, and Antarctica along with surrounding oceans will be in darkness.

This is not a one-day event. Every year, for about 60 days between May 18 and July 17, there is a short moment each day when almost the entire human race experiences daylight or twilight. In 2022, a post went viral on social media claiming that this phenomenon only happens on July 8. After that, this event started to be associated more with July 8. However, a fact-check by 'Time and Date' later showed different results. While July 8 is one of the days with the most sunlight, the fact-check confirmed that a similar situation occurs every day for about two months during the summer in the Northern Hemisphere.

• How many people will experience day, twilight, and night?

At the moment when sunlight reaches almost all people on Earth, about 6.9 billion people (83 percent) will be in full daylight. Another 581 million people (7 percent) will experience 'civil twilight'. During this time, the sky is bright enough that most outdoor activities can be done without artificial lights. A further 498 million people (6 percent) will be in 'nautical twilight'. At this time, the horizon is visible, but the sky is already quite dark. Similarly, 249 million people (3 percent) will be in 'astronomical twilight'. This period, just before complete night, has only a very faint light remaining in the sky. A total of 83 million people (1 percent) will experience complete night. At this time, the sun is 18 degrees below the horizon, and the sky is completely dark.

• Why does this happen on July 8 and not on the June solstice?

The June solstice is the longest day in the Northern Hemisphere, marking the beginning of summer. After the June solstice, the sun begins to move south. This causes the duration of daylight to decrease slightly in very sparsely populated far northern regions. On the other hand, in densely populated areas like Indonesia and the Philippines, the duration of daylight increases. It is this slight shift of the sun that causes about 10 million more people to experience daylight or twilight on this day compared to the solstice day.