SCENARIOS THAT WOULD TAKE PLACE IF THE EARTH STOPPED SPINNING
Added on: 27th Jun 2016
ONE DAY WOULD BE A YEAR LONG
Today, one day is equal to 23 hours and 56 minutes. If our
planet was to stop spinning, the sun would stay over half of
Earth for six months and the other half for six months,
killing off most plant and animal life. That means a
six-month-long day followed by a six-month-long night.
THE POLES WOULD BE MOSTLY UNSCATHED
Since Earth’s rotational velocity diminishes the further away
one gets from the Equator, if the Earth stopped spinning, a
polar bear or penguin standing on the North or South
Pole would feel little disturbance.
SUNLIGHT WOULD BE BLOCKED FROM REACHING EARTH
Dust and debris shot into the atmosphere by a stopped-Earth
would likely block out the sun, at least temporarily, as happens
when volcanoes spew ash into the sky and as happened
during the asteroid impact which killed off the
remainder of the dinosaurs.
THE SUN'S PATTERN WOULD CHANGE
Without the Earth’s normal rotation, the sun would rise in
the west and set in the east.
EARTH WOULD BECOME A SPHERE
As it spins, Earth bulges out at the equator due to rotational
velocity. If the Earth were to stop spinning, the 5 miles
(8 km) of bulging oceans would redistribute over the
planet, flooding many low-lying regions.
OCEANS WOULD REDISTRIBUTE
On a similar coin, since gravity is strongest at the poles, the
oceans would concentrate around the North and South Poles,
leaving behind one super-continent wrapping around
Earth’s equator.
WIND PATTERNS WOULD CHANGE
Current wind systems move in parallel to the equator but would
move from the equator to the poles if the Earth stopped
spinning, massively altering weather patterns.
THE OCEANS' SURFACE WOULD ATOMIZE
The rapidly moving wind systems would atomize the surface
layer of any body of water, including oceans, creating a
spray on the surface and waves that would overturn
most if not all vessels.
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