A Cold Day on Mercury Global climate change caused by the greenhouse effect is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity today. To survive, we'll need to maintain the delicate energy balance that makes Earth a place for life to thrive. The hot daytime temperature on Mercury probably wouldn’t surprise you it’s well over ℃ but the nighttime temperature might. Without the sun’s direct illumination, the surface of Mercury drops to a frigid ℃ overnight. Sunlight is absorbed by Mercury, which heats it up. But that heat energy doesn’t just stay there—it gets re-emitted as infrared light, the slice of the electromagnetic spectrum that we use for night or thermal vision. When Mercury emits light, that energy is lost forever, causing Mercury to cool down. It’s constantly being cooled by emission, but on the day side the sun is enough to keep it hot. At night, with no sunlight temperatures drop to a frigid ℃.
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