The Earth moves on its axis at a speed at the equator of 465.11 m / s. A constant movement that if not produced could have catastrophic consequences. Let us now know the answer to the question, What would be the consequences if the Earth suddenly stopped rotating ?.
What would be the consequences if the Earth suddenly stopped spinning?
Have you ever thought about what would happen if the earth suddenly stopped spinning? If you have, know that in all likelihood any form of life, plant or animal, on the surface would become extinct.
The causes of the catastrophe would be attributed mainly to the speed with which the earth rotates around its axis, which varies from a maximum of 1770 km / h at the equator to a minimum of 0 km / h at the poles , this means that a person or an object near the equator travels faster than the speed of sound .
Thus if planet Earth were to stop abruptly , the angular momentum imparted to air, water, and even rocks along the equator would continue to move at this “breakneck” speed, thus causing a kind of “bounce” effect due to the inertia of the planet’s masses. This would cause incalculable damage to the entire surface of the earth, which would “tear” generating rocky fragments sent up to the upper regions of the atmosphere and into outer space.
What would happen to us humans?
On the other hand, there is what would happen to ourselves if the Earth were to stop ipso facto right now. The most serious effect, from which nothing could escape, would be to be thrown from west to east at the speed corresponding to the latitude itself . In practice, we would find ourselves traveling at more than 1,260 km / h for thousands of kilometers, with practically no possibility of braking. But not just us: everything would suffer this impressive slowdown, finding us dumped alongside forests, buildings, seas, and probably even mountains. Since air is an ideal “fluid” in which we are immersed, nothing would have a chance, not even birds or airplanes that do not adhere to the ground. As if that were not enough, tsunamis of biblical dimensions would be created , even worse than those that could have occurred on Mars, capable of submerging entire continental areas (we could say goodbye to all of Portugal and much of Spain).
How could the Earth be saved?
However, according to James Zimbelman, geologist at the “Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum”, not everything would be lost for planet Earth, in fact due to its gravitational attraction it would exert an “accretion” effect on the orbiting fragments that They would lead them to bombard the earth’s surface to vaporize the water and liquefy the crust, with the consequent reabsorption of part of the earth’s mass dispersed in space.
However, we can rest assured, the possibility that the Earth stops rotating at any moment is still theoretically impossible, as Zimbelman himself states: »There is no natural force that can stop the Earth’s rotation«.
