Hello, steemians! It's good to be back again. I had recently posted an introduction of myself on my blog, but this would be my first article here. Enjoy!
Yesterday, I was sitting down relaxing, enjoying the fresh air coming through the window of the mosque. I looked outside to see the sun about to set. It cast its brilliant golden light on the world as it dipped further into the horizon to its home. Probably to prepare for another day's work.
Each day, it would rise in the east and set in the west. Of course, science has shown us that what seems like the sun rising and setting is actually the earth rotating about its axis. It takes the earth about 24 hours to complete a rotation - 23 hours 56 minutes to be specific.
The Solar system. Can you locate Earth? - Pixabay CC0 Creative CommonsStill seated on the mat, a thought suddenly popped into my head. What if…. What if the sun began rising from the west? What if the earth’s rotation is…. reversed? I sure hope I am long dead when or if that happens. It does sound a little scary. For those who still think reversing the earth’s rotation takes you back in time, come on, quit reading Superman comics. It doesn’t work that way.
So what happens when the earth’s rotation is reversed? I decided to do a little research and here is what I found out. Spoilers: Not good.
HALT!
For the earth to begin a clockwise rotation about its axis, (the earth rotates counterclockwise looking at the north pole) it has to come to a stop. When you are driving a car, to reverse, you have to bring the car to a stop before reversing. Same goes for any object in motion.
For the earth to stop suddenly, it has to have been impacted by a very large object the size of a planet and in the opposite direction of its rotary motion. The impact would effectively wipe out life on earth, leaving nothing behind. The Earth might even be displaced from its orbit around the sun. A reversal might not actually occur in such a case.
But let’s say the earth suddenly stops and begins to go the other way. The earth rotates at about 1000 miles per hour(1600 km/h). That’s about four times the speed of a Bugatti Veyron! This speed has no effect on you because it’s constant. A sudden stop would cause a very great upheaval due to the earth’s inertia. Earthquakes are going to spring up, tsunamis, hurricanes would ravage the earth leaving nothing left behind…….The Apocalypse.
Goodbye Earth - Pixabay CC0 Creative CommonsLife on earth would probably start over again, and it would be all for the best(forget I said that).
REVERSE!
But none of these still explains what happens when the sun actually begins rising from the west. So let’s consider a hypothetical situation where the earth magically(forgive me fellow scientists for committing such blasphemy) begins rotating clockwise. We would also ignore the earth’s inertia coming to play.
The first thing that is going to happen is that those about to witness the earth’s sunset would suddenly begin to see it….rise. This would give them a total of about 24 hours of daylight because of the added 12 hours from it rising again. There is going to be a lot of confusion for those witnessing it. Some might even see it as a sign of the end of the world.
As for those about to witness a sunrise, the sun would suddenly begin to set, giving those in those regions a total of 24 hours of nighttime. They would probably go on sleeping, oblivious to what’s happening. Except you have an alarm set to wake you up to a very strange world. Such a person would probably think that a solar eclipse is happening. This would only happen to those who live in places where the sunrise or sunset was about taking place.
Others would witness varying degrees of weirdness. Some might have just 4 hours of daytime before the sun sets. A mother might put her child to sleep, only for the child to wake up seconds later and see the sun rays peeking through the curtains.
Some might also get the feeling that they are going back in time. Once again, it doesn't work that way people.
WEATHER CHANGES
As time goes on, more significant changes become obvious.
JET STREAMS
Jet streams would be reversed.
Jet streams are like rivers of wind high above in the atmosphere. These slim strips of strong winds have a huge influence on climate, as they can push air masses around and affect weather patterns. Livescience.com
A reversal of the jet streams would cause a very dramatic change in the weather pattern. The warm air received by the United Kingdom and Ireland from the Atlantic would be replaced by cold air from Siberia. Winters over there would get harsher and areas once filled with vegetation would become barren.
US Jet streams - Wikimedia Creative Commons Public DomainThis would probably cause a great economic change, as both countries would no longer be able to grow food. The rest of Europe doesn’t get spared either as the cold air from Siberia would also affect them.
Huge clouds that were once around Japan would be moved to the west coast of North America, likely causing a change in the amount of rain gotten there.
TRADE WINDS
The trade winds would also get reversed due to the reversal of the earth’s rotation, changing from a westerly direction to an easterly direction.
The trade winds are the prevailing pattern of easterly surface winds found in the tropics, within the lower portion of the Earth's atmosphere, in the lower section of the troposphere near the Earth's equator. The trade winds blow predominantly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisphere, strengthening during the winter and when the Arctic oscillation is in its warm phase.Wikipedia
In short, whole weather patterns are going to change. Read more on how trade winds affect the weather here. Places that were previously deserts would become full of vegetation and water. The Sahara desert would probably become the Sahara rainforest. But this could also cause wet environment to become almost inhabitable by humans, or even other animals.
All these changes could cause a massive political change worldwide. And wars could begin to spring up. All these because the earth’s rotation was reversed.
PURE SPECULATION
But of course, these are all speculations. They might not necessarily happen. So no need to panic. As for me, I am consoled by the fact that I would be long dead by the time that happens(probably).
I hope your mood wasn’t too spoilt by the article. It was a little depressing after all. If you enjoyed it, and want more of them, do well to follow me @quantum-wave.
Alright, that’s it for today. See you around, Auf Wiedersehen!
REFERENCES
- What will happen if Earth`s spin reversed?
- If Earth's Spin Reversed
- What would happen if the world started spinning backward. The answer will shock you
- What would happen if the Earth were to slow down?
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