WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF THE EARTH STOPPED ORBITING THE SUN?

By Morgan Barras

ORBITING

The earth completely orbits the Sun once a year which is why our seasons happen once a year.

The earth also orbits on its own Axis

If the earth stopped orbiting the sun it would still orbit on its own axis.

Possible Outcomes

The Earth might get colder if it pulls away from the Sun

The Earth might get hotter if it goes closer to the Sun

There could be another Ice Age There could be a massive Heat Wave The gravitational pull might also change There would be massive environmental

changes The Earth might stop spinning

MORE THAN ONE OUTCOME?

The reasons for there being more than one outcome are:

Despite years and years of research, no-one knows what the exact outcome would be

There are many different scientific opinions and astronomists sometimes disagree with the scientists and physicists.

Effects of pulling away from the Sun

Crops and flowers will not grow as well

Some of the rivers might freeze The animals would not survive We couldn’t use solar power

anymore Hotter countries would struggle to

survive as it would be colder.

Effects of getting closer to the Sun

Rivers would dry up The Earth would become a big desert

where nothing could grow or live People would get sunburnt easier Scotland would finally have a real

summer!

If there was an Ice Age... Certain animals would become

extinct Humans might not survive through it Open waters would freeze over Crops would not grow

If there was a Heat Wave... All sources of water would dry up The tar on roads would melt Things would be a lot more

expensive The world would become a desert

GRAVITATIONAL PULL

The sun is at the centre of the solar system and holds all the planets around it. The force of gravity keeps them all in place.

If the force of gravity was affected the planets would go off course and start crashing into each other.

ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES

If the Force of Gravity changed it would affect our oceans and their tides. The weather would be extreme (for example extreme hurricanes, tsunami’s, summers and winters)

If the Earth stopped spinning...

One side of the world would be in darkness

One side would be in sunlight Solar power would only work in

certain countries The dark side of Earth would be cold The sunny side would be able to

survive on solar power only

My Opinion

I have fully researched this subject on the internet and in books. I think there is no real answer to the question “what would happen if the earth stopped orbiting the sun” because there is no real evidence to support all the different outcomes.