What would happen if Earth stopped spinning? Jim Barber/Shutterstock
Does life require Earth’s rate of rotation to lie in a certain range? What are those limits and what changes to life’s existence would there be as those limits were approached?
Mike Follows
Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, UK
If Earth stopped spinning, gravity would remain essentially the same, but the Coriolis effect would cease, causing air to travel in straight lines rather than forming cyclonic systems like hurricanes. The planet would also lose its magnetic field, which protects us from solar wind and coronal mass ejections. As a result, it…



