Nearly all people on Earth to share daylight or twilight Wednesday
About 8.2 billion people will be in daylight or twilight at around 11:10 GMT on July 8, Al Jazeera reported.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
3 min read
About 99 percent of the world’s population will be in daylight or twilight at the same moment on Wednesday, Al Jazeera reported, citing the timing of Northern Hemisphere summer and Earth’s axial tilt. The overlap is expected at about 11:10 GMT on July 8 and will last only about a minute.
Al Jazeera reported that the moment will put about 8.2 billion people under some level of sunlight, while only a small share of the global population will be in full night. The broad daylight zone will cover North America, South America, Europe, Africa and most of Asia, where the outlet said most people live.
Areas expected to remain in darkness include Australia, New Zealand, parts of Southeast Asia and Antarctica, along with surrounding ocean regions, according to Al Jazeera.
How the population breaks down
At the peak of the overlap, about 6.9 billion people, or 83 percent of the world’s population, will be in full daylight, Al Jazeera reported. Another 581 million people, or 7 percent, will be in civil twilight, when outdoor activity can generally continue without artificial lighting because the sky remains bright.
Al Jazeera reported that 498 million people, or 6 percent, will be in nautical twilight, a darker stage when the horizon can still be seen. A further 249 million people, or 3 percent, will be in astronomical twilight, when only a weak glow remains before full darkness.
About 83 million people, or 1 percent of the world’s population, will be in full night, according to Al Jazeera. That is the stage when the Sun is more than 18 degrees below the horizon and the sky is fully dark.
Why July 8 stands out
The June solstice marks the Northern Hemisphere’s longest day and the beginning of summer, Al Jazeera reported. After that point, the Sun’s apparent path shifts south, trimming daylight in some sparsely populated northern areas while extending light into more densely populated places, including Indonesia and the Philippines.
That shift brings about 10 million more people into daylight or twilight than on the solstice itself, according to Al Jazeera. The result is one of the year’s strongest global overlaps between sunlight and population.
Al Jazeera reported that the phenomenon is often linked online to July 8 because of a 2022 social media post that claimed the date was unique. A later fact check by Time and Date found that July 8 is one of the dates with the highest overlap, but similar conditions happen for about 60 days each year.
According to Time and Date, the window runs roughly from May 18 to July 17, with a brief daily moment when nearly all of humanity is in daylight or twilight. Al Jazeera reported that Wednesday’s event is part of that wider seasonal pattern rather than a one-day-only occurrence.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.