After reading another topic...

I started to wonder.

I was reading a topic about global warming and such. And it got me wondering, what would happen to plant and bacteria life if there was a sudden increase or decrease in the sun's energy output? Like say it increased 10%, or decreased 20%.

Anyon ehave any insight or interesting articles I could read? I have found a few of my own, but mostly concernning global warming.

In very general terms:

- to a certain level more light temp can be good for photosynthesis. However, past a certain level:
- photosynthetic rates crash (because of light saturation and factors such as water becoming limiting)
- decomposition rates (assuming proper humidity) increase - heterotrophic respiration increases exponentially -- this means a feedback of a C flux to the atmosphere
- the release of volatile organic compounds increase - they form condensation nuclei and affect cloud formation
- increased radiation may (or may not) be compounded with increased UV rad, thus affecting DNA
- Increased radiation may increase evatranspiration, generate more cloud cover, and provide a negative feedback to the increased warming
- Reverse for cooling

Keep in mind that responses are coupled between land, ocean, and atmosphere and there are cascading effects and non-linear responses (all with spatially explicit effects) all the time. I just typed what came to mind first without giving much thought to potential links and feedbacks.

Here's a recent book that may or may not be what you're looking for (it's not written for the casual reader in mind):

Steffen, W. et al. 2004. Global Change and the Earth System; A Planet Under Pressure. 2 ed. Springer. 336p.
ISBN: 3-540-26594-5

Consider this. Just a few degrees in temperature difference can mean life or death for much of earth's flora and fauna. Some species, such as turtles, are born male or female depending on the temperatures they develop under. This means that global warming, or global cooling, for that matter, could have a serious and drastic effect on life and ecosystems on earth.

Some articles on Wikipedia you may wish to read:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_temperature#Limits_compatible_with_life
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_warming#Effects
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_global_warming