Pluto is also warming, which is odd since it is moving away from the sun now and should be cooling. New Horizons would reach Pluto while some of the atmosphere still remains unfrozen on the surface, but the atmosphere is not freezing out as expected. For Pluto to warm this much because of increased sunlight, earth would be really hot, way hotter than it is.
I wonder (I have no idea) if the outgassing/unfrozen atmosphere lowers the albedo of Pluto as well - which might give Pluto a “step-function” in temperature.
Pluto would then have one phase with atmosphere, where it’s not-so-very-cold, and one where it’s very-cold, with no atmosphere. Even though its moving away from the sun, it could still be in this hotter phase.
Anyway, way outside my comfort zone here.
Not entirely. Pluto likely does not have a magnetic field to shield itself from the solar wind. If the Sun’s increased activity increases the solar wind then planets like Earth wouldn’t be effected as much.