FREE! Click here to Join FunTrivia. Thousands of games, quizzes, and lots more!
Fun Trivia
Home: Questions and Answers Forum
Answers to 100,000 Fascinating Questions
Welcome to FunTrivia's Question & Answer forum!

Search All Questions


Please cite any factual claims with citation links or references from authoritative sources. Editors continuously recheck submissions and claims.

Archived Questions

Goto Qn #


What would happen if the earth were not tilted?

Question #76561. Asked by skysmom65.

Related Trivia Topics: World  
Arpeggionist
Answer has 26 votes
Arpeggionist
20 year member
2173 replies

Answer has 26 votes.
There would be no seasons. The seasons are a result of the sun's light reaching the Earth at a tilted angle. (Mars also has seasons.)

Mar 01 2007, 8:45 AM
What-A-Mess
Answer has 26 votes
What-A-Mess

Answer has 26 votes.
No Seasons, and Tides would be influenced to some degree.

link http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/earth/Seasons.shtml

Mar 01 2007, 9:14 AM
skysmom65
Answer has 29 votes
Currently Best Answer
skysmom65
19 year member
1504 replies

Answer has 29 votes.

Currently voted the best answer.
This was something I had never really given any thought to until today. I'm sure somewhere in my schooling I was taught the answer but with many things, if ya don't use it, you lose it! So I looked it up and this is what I found:

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.
Answered by: Scott Wilber, President, ComScire - Quantum World Corporation
link http://www.physlink.com/Education/AskExperts/ae495.cfm

Mar 01 2007, 9:24 AM
avatar
zbeckabee star
Answer has 29 votes
zbeckabee star
Moderator
18 year member
11752 replies avatar

Answer has 29 votes.
"The sun would always be just on the horizon 24 hours a day on every day at the poles. Every day would be like what it currently is on the equinox since every location on Earth would have about a 12 hour sunlight days and the noon sun angle would be about the same every day. There would no longer be season as we know them. The temperature and precipitation pattern would not vary much. It would still be warm at the equator and cold at the poles. The most profound impact on temperatures would be at the poles. Instead and dark and frigid temperatures in the winter and warmer and constant sun in the summer, the polar areas would have much more uniform temperatures year round and the sun would always be low on the horizon. Across the Earth it would be like it is in the middle of fall or spring but it would last all year every year. Areas today that have wet, dry, warm and cold seasons would have a fairly constant weather all year whether it be wet, dry, warm and/or cold."


link http://www.theweatherprediction.com/habyhints2/471/

Mar 01 2007, 9:18 PM
free email trivia FREE! Get a new mixed Fun Trivia quiz each day in your email. It's a fun way to start your day!


arrow Your Email Address:

Sign in or Create Free User ID to participate in the discussion

Related FunTrivia Quizzes

play quiz When did it Happen?
( Civil War Battles)
play quiz Why Does It Happen?
(Physics for Kids)
play quiz That Did Not Just Happen
( The Unexplained)

Return to FunTrivia
"Ask FunTrivia" strives to offer the best answers possible to trivia questions. We ask our submitters to thoroughly research questions and provide sources where possible. Feel free to post corrections or additions. This is server B184.