The Earth is a round orb, almost 6400km in radius, orbiting a star alongside some other orbs of varying sizes. We've taken pictures of it. But some folks don't believe any evidence presented to them by a government agency. Many have come to the conclusion that the Earth is actually flat. What does flat mean? The models I've seen posit that the Earth is a disk with the North Pole in the center, bounded by Antarctica at the edges. What would happen if the Earth really did become flat? The following are opinions on weather by climate researchers, seismologists, astronomers and physicists to consider our planet suddenly turning to a pancake. The answer is, pretty universally, certain death.
Susan Hough, seismologist at the United States Geological Survey and Author....
If the earth were to suddenly flatten, presumably all sorts of hell would break loose. I guess it would depend on how flat is flat. If we're talking pancake flat, gravity would be an immediate problem: gravitational attraction goes as G(m1*m2)/r^2, where G is the gravitational constant, m1 & m2 are two masses, and r is distance. A sphere is the 3D shape that maximizes surface area relative to volume, which kind of gives gravity the biggest bang for its buck. If you flatten the sphere, the far side gets closer to the new center point, but the ends spread way out, so surface gravity goes down at the center, and way down at the edges. Lose gravity and bye-bye atmosphere.
Other first-order problems: heat, radioactivity, etc. In our spherical earth, both of these are concentrated in the core. If the earth were flattened, they would have to go somewhere -- presumably a lot closer to the surface.
Marek Kukula
Public Astronomer at the Royal Observatory in London
The Earth is round because its own gravity inevitably pulls it into a spherical shape. To somehow make it go flat and stay flat, you'd first have to find a way to switch off the effects of gravity. This would have the unfortunate side effect of allowing the Earth's atmosphere to float away into space, rapidly followed by anything else not physically attached to the surface. So, unfortunately, there'd be no weather and no life.
Carol Finn
Research Geophysicist at the US Geological Survey, and Past President of the American Geophysical Union
1) Gravity: in the center of the flattened Earth, it probably would feel similar to now. At the edges, the gravity field would start to point slightly toward the center, making it increasingly difficult to move toward the edge. It might feel like you are going up an increasingly steep hill. Once you hit the edge, you could walk more easily on the side of the Earth disk, as you'd be pulled toward the center of the Earth again (might feel like now).
Music: Bottom of the Sea (Instrumental Version) by Dhruva Aliman
https://dhruvaaliman.bandcamp.com/album/hard-to-get-along
http://www.dhruvaaliman.com/
Susan Hough, seismologist at the United States Geological Survey and Author....
If the earth were to suddenly flatten, presumably all sorts of hell would break loose. I guess it would depend on how flat is flat. If we're talking pancake flat, gravity would be an immediate problem: gravitational attraction goes as G(m1*m2)/r^2, where G is the gravitational constant, m1 & m2 are two masses, and r is distance. A sphere is the 3D shape that maximizes surface area relative to volume, which kind of gives gravity the biggest bang for its buck. If you flatten the sphere, the far side gets closer to the new center point, but the ends spread way out, so surface gravity goes down at the center, and way down at the edges. Lose gravity and bye-bye atmosphere.
Other first-order problems: heat, radioactivity, etc. In our spherical earth, both of these are concentrated in the core. If the earth were flattened, they would have to go somewhere -- presumably a lot closer to the surface.
Marek Kukula
Public Astronomer at the Royal Observatory in London
The Earth is round because its own gravity inevitably pulls it into a spherical shape. To somehow make it go flat and stay flat, you'd first have to find a way to switch off the effects of gravity. This would have the unfortunate side effect of allowing the Earth's atmosphere to float away into space, rapidly followed by anything else not physically attached to the surface. So, unfortunately, there'd be no weather and no life.
Carol Finn
Research Geophysicist at the US Geological Survey, and Past President of the American Geophysical Union
1) Gravity: in the center of the flattened Earth, it probably would feel similar to now. At the edges, the gravity field would start to point slightly toward the center, making it increasingly difficult to move toward the edge. It might feel like you are going up an increasingly steep hill. Once you hit the edge, you could walk more easily on the side of the Earth disk, as you'd be pulled toward the center of the Earth again (might feel like now).
Music: Bottom of the Sea (Instrumental Version) by Dhruva Aliman
https://dhruvaaliman.bandcamp.com/album/hard-to-get-along
http://www.dhruvaaliman.com/
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