What would happen if the world stopped turning?

Have you ever wondered what would happen if the world stopped turning?

KIRO Radio’s Dave Ross has, and he wasn’t afraid to ask Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson when he interviewed the “Cosmos” host for his latest episode of his ROSSFIRE podcast.

“What would happen if the Earth suddenly stopped rotating?” Ross asked Tyson.

It would be bad, said Tyson, but it’s a fun bad thing to talk about.

“If Earth stopped rotating abruptly, we’re not attached to Earth. You’re in a building that’s attached, but you’re not attached, unless you have boots that are shackled to the bedrock,” said Tyson, “so the instant we stopped, you would just keep moving.”

The problem is Earth is rotating pretty fast.

“Depending on your latitude, typically, the middle latitudes have a sideways motion anywhere from 700 to 900 miles an hour, so you can round it out to 800 miles an hour. You’re going due east 800 miles an hour with Earth’s surface.”

If the Earth stops rotating, and you continue moving, Tyson said: “You keep going 800 miles an hour due east until you hit something. So it would be catastrophic to the world if we ever stopped rotating.”

Tyson said tall buildings would snap with the force, and while it’d be near impossible to avoid turning to goo, it would be an extraordinary thing to see.

Your best bet for survival, he said, is to be at either the North or South Pole. “Santa doesn’t have much sideways motion, he’s just pirouetting on the North Pole.”

If anything, it sounds like you really want to avoid the equator, because at the equator, Tyson said the Earth is rotating at about 1,000 miles per hour.

Listen to Dave Ross’ full conversation with Neil deGrasse Tyson:

Subscribe to the ROSSFIRE podcast hosted by Dave Ross.