Logo

What would happen if the Earth stopped spinning for one minute?

Last Updated: 26.06.2025 04:22

What would happen if the Earth stopped spinning for one minute?

If the whole Earth stops by magic, with the angular momentum just vanishing and then reappearing, then the result is very minor. Every clock on Earth would need to be recalibrated against our satellites (unless they magically got paused as well). Siderial, solar, and atomic time would all be out of sync. Other than that, everybody would want to know: What the heck just happened? How did Earth magically stop and start again? But everybody is just fine.

Does the whole planet (from core to atmosphere) stop spinning?

If only the atmosphere keeps going, Earth’s surface is blasted with winds moving at hundreds of miles per hour. Most people die.

Life from oceans to savannas explained with one single rule - Phys.org

If Earth’s rotation is stopped by a collision, everyone dies. The planet is destroyed.

If Earth’s rotation is stopped and all the angular momentum is released as heat, everyone dies.

Does the solid Earth + the oceans stop spinning?

Gold Holds Decline After US Jobs Data Deters Demand for Havens - Bloomberg

If it stops by magic, does all the energy from Earth’s angular momentum also disappear by magic, or is it released as heat?

Does the rocky planet alone stop spinning?

“What would happen if the Earth stopped spinning for one minute?”

Can I add pencil on top of my dry brush oil painting? Reason being it's easier to draw darker hair colour. Will pencil lead and oil paint interact and cause something horrible?

If the oceans keep going, Earth’s surface is scoured clean by tsunamis moving at hundreds of miles per hour. Nearly everyone dies.

The answer depends entirely on how you interpret the question, which is why you see so many completely different responses.

Does it stop due to a massive collision, or does it stop by magic?

We now told, by Senator Grassley, that on the FBI form about the Biden bribery story, there is a Burisma exec who says he has 17 tapes of his deal with the Biden. 15 of Hunter and 2 of Joe Biden? What would this do to Hunter/Joe Biden if released?

Bottom line: Depending on the underlying intent of the question, the answer could be anything from the destruction of the planet and every living thing, to a minor inconvenience that requires resetting our clocks.