What Would Happen If The Earth Stopped Spinning?
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There are a lot of hypothetical questions that get asked about the Earth a lot, but there's one that you might not think about given that it happens all the time without you noticing. Join me as we explore what would happen if the earth stopped spinning.
7. Wait, Do We Have To Worry About That?
No, don't worry, the Earth isn't going to suddenly stop spinning, and for a very basic reason. Mainly, the reason it was formed. Did you ever wonder WHY the Earth was spinning at all? Because it wasn't just a random reason that this happened, it was something that was set in motion long before the Earth fully formed.
To put it basically, the Earth was formed when a mass cloud of gas known as the Solar Nebula compressed upon itself. No, really, that's what happened, and what's more, this is how all the other planets formed too, and if you notice, they're all spinning as well. But why? Well, when the cloud was collapsing, the forces that be caused everything to spin. The more the spinning started, the more particles that were around the compressed cloud started to gather, and these forces combined to make our planet.
"But why didn't the planet stop spinning?" A good question, and one that is also easily answered. Because in space, there are very few things that cause momentum to stop, and for something like an already spinning planet? Especially one the size of the planets in our solar system? Yeah, that's hard to stop. Friction is something that slows down momentum, but there's no immediate friction in space because there's nothing to "rub up against." Thus, the Earth is still spinning billions of years after it was made.
Now sure, there are certain scenarios and situations where the Earth could stop spinning, and one of them might just happen on their own without outside help. But it's very unlikely. What's more, if it was to happen naturally, then it would happen over the course of BILLIONS of years, and by that point, the Earth will already be gone via the sun absorbing us when it turns into a red giant, or the Andromeda galaxy swallowing us whole...it's very unlikely that it would happen. Not impossible, but very unlikely.
Still, it's never a bad thing to ask a question. So...what WOULD happen if the Earth stopped spinning in place? What effects would it have on the planet?
6. Sudden Stop
I want you to think of the Earth as a car. A car that is going a certain clip. Let's say...65 miles per hour. You know...the speed limit that you're supposed to follow on the road? I see you getting nervous right now.
Anyway, imagine the Earth is that car, and the movement down the road is the rotation of the Earth. Everything is fine, you're going down the road and there's no issues except for the occasional bump, the odd bug that hits your windshield, that kind of thing. But then, out of nowhere, a deer shows up! What do you do? You hit the brakes, right? And you come to a complete stop.
Now, keeping that picture in mind, what happens to everyone in the car if they're not ready for that sudden stop? The answer is, they get lurched forward, right? The momentum that they had wants to keep them moving forward down the road. Which is why we wear seatbelts, so that the momentum doesn't send us crashing through the windshield.
So now I want you to imagine the Earth suddenly slamming on its brakes and coming to a stop. The problem here though is that the Earth doesn't rotate at 65 miles per hour. It rotates at 1000 miles per hour at the Equator. Which means that every single thing on Earth. Man, woman, child, animal, and building, car, truck, train, etc., would be lunged forward at 1600 miles per hour.
I'm honestly surprised that this isn't a horror movie. Because the effects of that happening would be devastating in every sense of the word. A human being can die by going through a windshield at least than 65 miles per hour, so now imagine the entire human race, and buildings, and vehicles being flung from their standing positions into who know where?
Cities would be ripped up from their roots, even massive skyscrapers. So even IF people were able to survive the initial impact of whatever they found themselves upon, they would have tidally locked