What if the Earth started to spin faster?

In this life there are enough things to worry about. Nuclear war, climate change, whether you brush your teeth. Of the earth, which is spinning too fast, simply can not be in this list, because it will happen soon, certainly not — and if it does, then you'll be too dead to worry about it. However, out of curiosity, why not imagine what will happen?

First, let's discuss how fast the world is spinning now. It depends on where you are, because the planet rotates fastest at the equator. When the Earth rotates around its axis, most of its circumference at the equator. Therefore, a point on the equator will go a lot farther in 24 hours than, say, Moscow, which is located on a narrow segment of the Earth. To compensate for the additional distance, the equator rotates with a speed about 1500 km/h, and Moscow — not more than 1200 km/h.

If we could speed up the rotation of the Earth one mile per hour, the sea level around the equator would rise a few inches because the water would come from the poles. It would be several years before you would have noticed, said Witold Fraczek, analyst at ESRI, the company that makes the GIS.

What would be much more noticeable is the fact that some of our satellites would have gone with his ways. Geostationary satellites orbit our planet at a speed corresponding to the rotation of the Earth, so you can always be in the same place all the time. If the planet is accelerating at a rate of 1.5 km per hour, the satellites change their position, and thus communication satellites, broadcasting, military and intelligence appointments will cease to work normally, at least temporarily. Some satellites carry fuel and can adjust their position and speed, but others will need to be replaced, but it is expensive.

"This can break the life and comfort of some people," says Fraczek, "but will not be a disaster".

But the faster the spin the planet, the consequences will be catastrophic.

weight Loss

The centrifugal force from the rotation of the Earth is constantly trying to throw you off the planet like the child with the carousel. While gravity is pretty strong and keeps you on the ground. But if the Earth will spin faster, centrifugal forces will gain momentum, says NASA astronomer Sten Odenwald.

Currently, if you weigh about 50 kilograms in the Arctic circle, on the equator you will weigh a 49.5. Because of the additional centrifugal force which is produced at the equator, gravity is becoming weaker. The faster the spin, the planet, the less is your weight.

The Odenwald hopes that if the equator can get up to 30,000 km/h, the centrifugal force will be enough that you felt weightless. Of course, if you're still alive.

Permanent jet lag

The faster the spin the Earth, the shorter our days. With every increase of speed by 1 km/h day will be a minute to keep up with our internal clock, which is tied pretty strictly to a 24 hour cycle.

But if we rotate at 200 km/h faster than usual, the day will last about 22 hours. For our bodies it would be tantamount to a permanent transfer of hour hands. We have to translate the internal clock by two hours every day back, not allowing the body to adapt. And change the duration of a day is also unlikely to enjoy plants and animals.

All of this will make sense only in case of a sudden acceleration of the Earth. "If the speed will slowly increase over millions of years, we will have to adapt to that," says Odenwald.

hurricanes

If the rotation of the Earth will accelerate slowly, it will bring the atmosphere and gradually we will notice the change in weather and the movement of the winds. "The difference in temperatures will continue to be the main engine of the winds," says Odenwald. However, extreme weather may become more destructive. "Hurricanes will be worn faster and carry more energy."

The Reason, of course, is that we have already discussed: at the equator the Earth is spinning faster.

If the Earth does not rotate at all, the winds from the North pole would be blowing in a straight line to the equator and Vice versa. But as we rotate, the path winds deflected to the East. This curvature of the winds is called the Coriolis effect gives rise to hurricanes spiraled. And if the Earth rotated faster, the winds had gone further East. The rotation of hurricanes would be even harsher.

Water world

The Extra speed at the equator means that there will begin to gather water. Acceleration 1.5 km/h will lead to the fact that the water at the equator will be several inches deeper in a few days.

At a speed of 150 km/h the equator will begin to flood. The Amazon basin, Northern Australia and the Islands of the Equatorial region will go under water from 10 to 30 meters deep.

If we double the speed at the equator so that the Earth will rotate at 1500 miles faster "it will be a disaster". Centrifugal force pulled hundreds of meters of water to the waist of the Earth. "With the exception of the highest mountains such as Kilimanjaro or the high peaks of the Andes, I think the whole Equatorial area is covered with water." This additional water will be drawn from the polar regions, where the centrifugal force below. So the Arctic ocean will become smaller.

Meanwhile, the additional centrifugal force from the rotation would mean that the equator will be easier to deal with gravity. The air in these regions is very humid, with dense fog and heavy clouds. Will always raining.

Finally, the acceleration of 25 000 km/h the centrifugal force at the equator will correspond to the force of gravity. After that "rain is back". Water drops will move up into the atmosphere. At this point the Earth will rotate 17 times faster than it is now, and in the Equatorial region will not remain witnesses of this magnificent spectacle.

"If those few unfortunate people would still be alive after most of the water Lands will be put into the atmosphere and beyond, they will definitely want to leave the Equatorial region. At least in middle latitudes".

Earthquake

At very high speeds — again, about 40 000 km/h — and after thousands of years of the earth's crust is also moving, flattened at the poles and curved along the equator.

Earthquake will be enormous. Tectonic plates will move faster, and it will be a disaster for life on earth.

With all this speed of the Earth is constantly changing, says Odenwald. Earthquakes, tsunamis, major air masses and the melting of ice is changing the planet's rotation at the level of milliseconds. 4.4 billion years ago after a devastating collision of Earth with a celestial object formed the Moon. At that time, the form of our Earth was flattened, and she quickly rotated so that the length of day was only four hours. The event has greatly changed the shape of the Earth and almost completely fragmented planet. Will it happen again? Let's hope not. Since the formation of the moon, the Earth slowed down to 8 miles every 10 million years, for the most part by the gravitational pull of the moon. Most likely, in the future the Earth's rotation will slow down, not accelerate.

"there is No conceivable way to dramatically accelerate the rotation of the Earth," says Odenwald. "To the planet rotated faster, it needs to hit with the desired object, but it will inevitably lead to the thinning of the crust, so we will still perish."