what would happen if the earth's axis went totaly vertical?

Answer 1

There are a lot of variables to consider. First, lets assume the Earth's rotational axis is a line more or less on the same plane as the Earth's orbit around the Sun instead of the existing axis alignment which is more or less perpendicular to the plane of the Earth's orbit. Then, lets assume the Earth has the same axial rotation rate it does now, that is, one complete revolution around the rotational axis every 24 hours or so. Next, lets assume the new rotational axis is fixed. An easy was to visualize this scenario would be to see the Earth orbiting around the Sun's poles instead of it's equator. Finally, lets assume you are standing at teh South Pole. Let's start with the Earth at 12:00, directly above the Sun's North Pole. The Earth's southern hemisphere would be bathed in sunlight with the South Pole being closest to the Sun. The Earth's rotational axis would be pointing straight at the Sun from the South Pole. The Earth's Northern Hemisphere would be in total darkness. The Earth would still be rotating once about every 24 hours, but at the Earth's South Pole, the Sun would be directly overhead, like at high noon. It would stay that way for a month, until the Earth moved to 1:00, then the Sun would appear to move about 1/3 of the way down in the sky from high noon to the horizon. and would completely circle the sky every 24 hours, staying at that position all the way around. It would stay that way for about another month until the Earth moved to 2:00 around the Sun. Then the Sun would appear to be only 1/3 the way above the horizon, and would circle the sky at that level for about another month. At 3:00 in the Earth's orbit around the Sun, the Earth's rotational axis would be perpendicular to the Sun and parallel with the Earth's orbital path. Again from the Earth's South Pole, you would have a virtual perpetual dawn with the Sun apparent on the horizon but never quite coming into view. It would appear that the Sun was circling just below the horizon every 24 hours. The view from the Earth's North Pole would be the same, except the Sun would appear to be circling the opposite direction just below the horizon. It would stay this way for about a month, then would reverse the process with the North Pole becoming brighter as the Sun seems to be slowly spiraling up in the sky until the Earth reaches the 6:00 point in it's orbit around the Sun. At this time, the North pole would be pointing directly at the Sun and it would appear to be high noon at the North Pole for about another month. The same would happen as the Earth orbits around the Sun from 6:00 to 12:00 only in reverse, with the North Pole getting slowly darker as the Sun appears to slowly spiral down in the sky until it sinks below the northern horizon and starts to slowly spiral back up the sky in the southern hemisphere. Of course, summer at either of the Earth's poles would be a real scorcher, especially as the Sun climbed high into the sky for months at a time. The opposite effect would occur on the other side of the Earth, as things started getting colder, until the Sun just disappeared for about 6 months at a time.

For folks on the Earth's equator, the Sun would appear to be standing still just below the southern horizon at Earth's 12:00 position in orbit around the Sun. As the Earth moved in orbit around the Sun, the Sun's rising and setting arc would rise every day until the Earth reached 3:00 in it's orbit around the Sun, then the Sun would be rising and setting in an arc directly overhead and appear much as it does today in mid summer, with 24 hour days and a sunrise and sunset every day.

Probably the best bet for human survival in such conditions, people would need to be nomads and travel between the equator and the Earth's 30th parallels north and south, following the Sun as it moves over the sky. Probably wouldn't be much water beyond those parallels. Hope this answers your question!

Answer 2

If it happened suddenly, all low lying areas on Earth would be subject to massive flooding, with waves as high as several kilometres.

Reason: the oceans build up around the equator because of the Earth's spin. If the position of the Equator changed suddenly, it would be like opening a dam of water several kilometres high, but a dam as long as the circumference of the Earth. That water would instantly distribute with cataclysmic results.

Also, the Earth itself bulges out at the Equator for the same reason. Change the equator and that bulge would try to change, and in doing so would create the most massive crustal movements ever experienced. probably every tectonic plate would be affected, setting off the most violent Earthquakes ever.

In the process, volcanic activity would increase damatically, poisoning the atmosphere.

But, fortunately, it aint going to happen. The only conceivable way it could happen is if a passing body the size of Mars or larger were to come close enough to gravitationally drag the Earth off its normal axis.

There aint one in sight, and there is no indication there ever will be.

Answer 3

We must be assume that this change in the earth's orbital axis is a thought experiment. The earth can be thought of as a gigantic gyroscope, spinning at over 1000 miles per hour at its equator. If its axis were to be suddenly shifted from its normal inclination, inertial forces produced in such a change would literally tear the earth apart.

That aside, if the rotational axis of the earth were perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic (the plane that passes through the earth's orbit), several dramatic differences would appear. First would be that the length of day and night would be exactly equal, over the whole planet. There would be no seasons, just one average of the current four. Weather patterns would be very different; much more uniform.

These and other changes in the oceans and atmosphere would result in tremendous and unpredictable changes in conditions on the earth's surface including shifts in the oceans' levels and changes in the location and extent of arid as well as tropical areas.

Answer 4

In the spirit of using the right terminology:

The Earth's axis is vertical, but only at the rotational poles.

What you meant to ask was, "What would happen if the Earth's axis of rotation was parallel with its orbital axis?"

The simplest answer, as others have given, is that there would be no seasons.

Answer 5

The Earth's seasons are not caused by the differences in the distance from the Sun throughout the year (these differences are extremely small). The seasons are the result of the tilt of the Earth's axis.

The Earth's axis is tilted from perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic by 23.45°. This tilting is what gives us the four seasons of the year - spring, summer, autumn (fall) and winter. Since the axis is tilted, different parts of the globe are oriented towards the Sun at different times of the year.

Summer is warmer than winter (in each hemisphere) because the Sun's rays hit the Earth at a more direct angle during summer than during winter and also because the days are much longer than the nights during the summer. During the winter, the Sun's rays hit the Earth at an extreme angle, and the days are very short. These effects are due to the tilt of the Earth's axis.

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/earth/Seasons.shtml
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/cgi-bin/tour.cgi?link=/the_universe/uts/earth2.html&sw=false&cdp=/windows3.html&cd=false&fr=f&frp=/windows3.html&edu=elem
http://fuliginouspalaver.tripod.com/comingtolight/id16.html
http://english.pravda.ru/science/19/94/377/15198_earth.html

Answer 6

because of the fact the Universe isn't designed. Happenstance does not comprehend good angles from squat. Edit: "Zardoz: A Christian can come back by ability of asserting that God meant for Earth to have seasons, so for this reason He designed the lean of the Earth's axis with appreciate to the ecliptic airplane. i'm an atheist, myself. I only frown in a principled way on undesirable arguments." The question means that the axis must be ninety° somewhat than 23.5°. the perception that that would desire to be so would desire to in basic terms be end if layout have been so as. My argument could be tempered to the component to banal even though this is not undesirable. Prometheus asks the obtrusive question it is in itself adequate to respond to aeepcaliyar's question. If Earth's axis have been perpendicular that would require a controversy that may not tempered to the component to banal. Now, a Christian's attribution to God's will is undesirable. "There already is a shorthand convention for 10 raised to a capability. in the parent 3.1e9, the "e9" area ability 10? or billion, and it makes use of one fewer characters than your proposed convention does." There are numerous of them. it is between the better and greater effortless ones. even though it has distinctive short comings that's why i'm not merchandising it. You your self have only illustrated one rationalization why that convention is complicated. decrease case "e" has already been co-opted for the very conventional base of the organic logarithms. that's why the top case is used for that convention, 3.1E9. sq. brackets are decrease case, rarely used, and transportable. i won't be able to gather all of my En and Ex in a tidy equipment with out including brackets or multiplication signs and indicators. sq. bracket base 10 logarithms additionally use the present convention of default multiplication, [5.32][fifty 4][-7][21][-30] = [5 + fifty 4 - 7 + 21 - 30] = [40 3.32]. that's only approximately blunders evidence. i did not incredibly need to do the middle step. And as quickly as favourite the function character "???" gets replaced too. i'm additionally sorry if I truthfully have did not electrify upon you that i does not like it defined to me that 10? = billion. .

Answer 7

I assume you ask "what if the earth's axis was/is vertical from day 1 when it was formed". Then there would be no season, day and night would have equal durations.

Answer 8

Goodbye to the North and South Pole if it spins a different angle. This would kiss goodbye the humans. It would not erase all life but hopefully, our Earth will stay exactly how it is

Answer 9

Hi. I think you mean stopped having it's tilt. The poles would get more Sun, so the oceans would rise. The weather would change on average. Florida would become an undersea tourist attraction.

Answer 10

Mars is a good example of what "could" happen. But, most likely, sever weather changes, polar ice caps melt thus reducing land mass (NY would be under water), etc.