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Does life require Earth’s rate of rotation to lie in a certain range?

Our readers offer their opinions on what would happen if Earth’s rotation slowed – and if it sped up. Life wouldn’t be easy for our planet’s inhabitants, let’s put it like that

26 February 2025

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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…

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