What to do if the earth suddenly stops spinning?

The earth not only revolves around the sun, but also orbits itself towards the east. There are good reasons for this. If the earth did not orbit the sun every 365 days, we would not have seasons. If that too did not rotate on its axis, our days would not be 24 hours. But it would not be so bad if the earth did not rotate even for a second.

A Thought test: The earth suddenly stops spinning. “It’s catastrophic,” said Neil de Cross Tyson, an American astronomer and television presenter. In an interview. At that time, anything that is not much connected to the earth will tear from the ground at the speed at which the earth rotates. How fast can it be?

The earth stops, we fly

At the equator, the Earth is approx At 1,674 km / h – i.e. about 465 meters per second – its maximum rotational speed. The further north or south you are, the slower the rotation speed. The 50th degree of northern latitude – running across Germany – is still at 1070 kilometers per hour.

At this speed, everything that is not very firmly connected to the earth is thrown from the ground to the east: people, animals, plants, buildings – including the oceans. The high-velocity wind is still spinning at a speed that rubs against the entire surface of the planet. He also writes the astronomical journal “Astronomy”.. “It will kill everyone on Earth. People will fly out the windows,” de Cross Tyson said in an interview. “It’s going to be a bad day on Earth.” , Maintains the speed of the car during the collision – the result: he flies out of the car.

Tsunamis, heat, cold and a new continent

However, there is a way to maintain this first barrier. Anyone at the North or South Pole at this time, i.e. at two 90 degrees latitudes of our planet, will not notice the stopping rotation. Because the rotational speed at these points is zero kilometers. But you will probably not be saved: by then the survivors at the poles will be swept away by the great waves. “Flying rocks and flat seas trigger earthquakes and tsunamis”, Geologist Jim Zimmelman told The Smithsonian Magazine. The overall livelihood will also be destroyed.

If the earth suddenly stopped orbiting itself and only revolved around the sun, the days and nights would last for six months each. NASA astronomer Sten Odenwald considered a few years ago. Scientist Karl Kruszelnicki holds a similar view. “One half of the planet will be exposed to the sun’s heat almost continuously, and the other half will face the cooling of space.” Kruselniki tells the Australian radio station “ABC”. According to him, life is possible only in a kind of twilight zone between these two areas. However, due to the rotation around the sun, this zone will not be stable at one point.

Assuming that the oceans do not evaporate on the hot side and freeze on the cold side, Kruselniki also assumes that there is a new one around the equator. “The Great Continent” Arise. Because the Earth is not completely circular and wide at the equator, water will move toward the poles if rotation stops. The poles will have two separate oceans on each side of the new continent, covering entire parts of the original continent. “You can travel around the earth at the equator and be completely dry – except for the icy cold at night and the scorching heat of the day.”

The probability is equal to zero

However, scientists agree: The Probability Such an event exists in the next billion years Practically zero. Earth will not stop turning, says physicist and chemist Dave Concelio. “The earth revolves around the universe in a pure, perfect vacuum. Space is so empty that there is nothing that can slow down the Earth so that it can rotate and return, practically without friction “,” he said. with the “Forbes” -Magazine Council.

The gravitational force of space dust and the moon takes minimal energy from rotation, but it is “really insignificant”. This reduces the rotation of the earth. But only about 1.8 milliseconds per century.

Earth has been slowing down for billions of years – what are its consequences?

So a sudden stop is not possible. But what if the earth continued to be slow for billions of years? Astronomer de Grosso Tyson suspects that along with the Earth we will act slowly. A process in which we can live. “People think it will somehow make us weightless or lose our situation,” he said. no answer. The days are too long. ”

According to NASA astronomer Sten Odenwald, this is not a completely stopped cycle, but it is. “The laws of physics are close enough to allow the earth. In this case, the earth can rotate at one point “in sync with the sun” only once every 365 days. Then one side will continue to turn towards the sun and the other will continue to be in darkness. Similarly, the moon revolves around the earth – also known as the binding cycle. However, “Astronomy” magazine estimates that this theory is impossible, and that the Earth is far from the Sun.

The physicist Conceclio believes it is possible to slow down the Earth’s rotation in billions of years – However we will not enjoy it. He compares the earth to a train traveling at 1670 km per hour: only a collision with mosquitoes slows it down. At some point this train will stop, but until then, Concepcio suspects it will no longer be there. So is the earth. When the sun expands into a red giant in the last five billion years and gradually swallows up our solar system, our planet will be history. However, researchers say that as the Earth expands, it will become uninhabitable in a billion years. So stopping the Earth will not be a real problem for us – not until the sun embarrasses our planet anyway.