We all know Earth rotates on its axis which causes the occurrence of day and night.
But what If the rotation of the Earth suddenly comes to a halt. What if the Earth decides not to rotate anymore. What would happen to the buildings, oceans and you yourself?
Through all the years of evolution and the development of human societies, we have become so accustomed to the idea of seas, oceans, and their boundaries that we now take them for granted. However, what if I told you that the line marking the end of an ocean and the start of a landmass was dependent on the spin of Earth?
Actually, it is. You see, sea level has always been at equilibrium with Earth’s gravity (which pulls the water towards the center of the Earth). Furthermore, due to the rotation of the planet, an outward centrifugal force is generated, which makes a ‘bulge’ along the center of the planet.
There would be no centrifugal force in case of no rotation due to which oceans would start moving towards the poles, completely drowning the polar regions. In contrast to which gigantic land mass would occupy the equatorial region surrounded by huge water bodies on the either sides.
Things That Will Happen If The Earth Stops Right Now...
- Right now at this moment, the Earth is rotating on its axis with an approximate speed of 1100mph i.e 1700kmph from West to East direction. A sudden stop will throw everything not attached to the bedrock with same speed towards East direction. Be it building, cars, busses, your pet dog and we would be tossed up pretty far and thrown into the wall. Well if you are lucky enough to miss the wall you wold be thrown with a speed 1.5x of sound (speed of sound: 1200kmph) and you of course are not aerodynamic enough to survive past the sound barrier.
- Tsunami :After the sudden stop of rotation, the spinning energy of Earth needs to go somewhere. This momentum would cause Ocean beds to give birth to Tsunamis. Large mass of water would be deposited over land and the inland would be flooded in no time. The spinning force of Earth maintains the water on top of the equator, with no such force all the water bodies would rush towards poles.
- Earthquake : With such huge force tectonic plates would be disturbed and Seismic waves would travel through the Earth causing massive Earthquakes and the Earth might even break apart.
- Nuclear Explosion : Power Supply around the globe will stop and All the nuclear power plants and reactors will go non-functional eventually leading to nuclear explosion and mass destruction.
Well eventually every human being will succumb to death. Mankind will witness a disastrous end.
Well the good news is that stopping of rotation is a far fetched reality. You are safe for the moment, appreciate your life.