Imagine something happened in space, some force reaction, that changes the way we know Earth. So everything starts to go in the opposite direction, Earth spinning, moon activities, sun, bunch of climate changes, etc... then would the human race (regarding human body/form) exist in the way we know it? And hoping it could be preserved, what do you think new life will look like? May the Force be with you all :)
$\begingroup$
$\endgroup$
8
-
13$\begingroup$ Earth's spin and gravity are not related. $\endgroup$– Draco18s no longer trusts SECommented Feb 3, 2016 at 19:41
-
1$\begingroup$ Gravity is related to mass, not spin. $\endgroup$– DMfiendCommented Feb 3, 2016 at 19:44
-
1$\begingroup$ Close voters, poorly thought out doesn't mean "off-topic". $\endgroup$– SamuelCommented Feb 3, 2016 at 20:11
-
1$\begingroup$ I'm with Samuel here, and I believe this question has a lot of potential with edits. Changes in the Earth and its n-body relationship with the moon and sun would indeed have a lot of consequences that short term does have a lot of effect and long term could lead to changes with life on Earth for the things that would survive a sudden change. I would like to see expanded answers on this rather than ten answers all saying "Spin isn't related to gravity, mass is." Draco's comment was sufficient, so let's get those changes out of the way and see if some well thought out answers can come about. $\endgroup$– The AnathemaCommented Feb 3, 2016 at 20:31
-
$\begingroup$ I think it's too broad, not off topic. $\endgroup$– Xandar The ZenonCommented Feb 3, 2016 at 20:40
|
Show 3 more comments
3 Answers
$\begingroup$
$\endgroup$
0
As stated by other posters, gravity is related to the Earth's mass, not the spin. However, if the earth was spinning in one direction and something caused it to spin in the other direction, you would have a period of massive changes.
Randall Munroe addressed what would occur if the Earth suddenly stopped spinning here. If this was part of your story's timeline, you might address this cataclysm and how some people survived.
$\begingroup$
$\endgroup$
3
Gravity is not caused by the Earth's spin. If you're near the equator, the spin of the Earth does counteract the force of gravity a little bit, but only by about 0.3%. So gravitationally, nothing would really be affected by the Earth spinning in the opposite direction.
If the Earth starting orbiting the sun in the opposite direction, the biggest change would be that the seasons would go in the opposite order: Winter to Fall to Summer to Spring. Of course, if you're in the middle of Winter or Summer when this happens, you're not going to notice anything. If you're in Spring or Fall when this happens, you'll definitely notice when Spring changes back into Winter or Fall changes back into Summer.
As for the global climate, here's an article that explores that a little bit. The short version is that the directions of trade winds would change, causing different effects in different areas. So places that are now habitable would become less and less habitable, while other areas would become more habitable.
-
4$\begingroup$ I highly doubt seasons would go in the opposite order. I challenge you to have leaves fall off the trees after winter is over, survive summer, and then grow new ones in spring, just before the cold hits. $\endgroup$ Commented Feb 3, 2016 at 20:04
-
2$\begingroup$ The direction of the orbit does not determine the order of the seasons. If it switched in the Spring you'd have a Winter followed by another Spring, not Winter followed by Fall. $\endgroup$– SamuelCommented Feb 3, 2016 at 20:10
-
2$\begingroup$ @Draco18s Fall would become the new Spring, and vice versa. I was trying to find a simple way to point out that if you were in Spring, you'd go back to Winter instead of to Summer. $\endgroup$ Commented Feb 3, 2016 at 20:22
$\begingroup$
$\endgroup$
1
Gravity may still exist. But the sudden change in direction would kill most living things on earth.
answered Feb 3, 2016 at 19:52
-
1