What would happen if the earth's tilt changed drastically?

Already happened. Weather changes, more earthquakes etc.

got depends?

When and by how much?

I've read that the equatoiral oceanic bulge will push water around flooding areas along the coasts.

26 degrees in March of 2010

Oh I think you're talking about the aftermath of an earthquake, just like what we saw from the Japanese eq in Mar 2011 that also shifted the earth's axis.

I was wondering more about if the axis reversed more dramatically, and over a shorter period of time.

I heard that it might affect the magnetic field and we wouldn't have electricity if it happened during a pole shift. But I have a harder time swallowing that theory since its never happened in recorded history

LOL after watching zombieland I couldn't agree more to his rule of always having an extra pair of underwear

Dont know what would happen, i believe there would have been no one or very few left alive to write about it if it had happened in the past. It was explained to me like if you were on a merri go round spinning and it suddenly stopped, that you would fly off. or if it suddenly changed direction.

More like 26 centimeters. LOL @ 26 degrees.

its already under way. search

pole-shift ning.

it's a big gyroscope. it would take a huge force to change the tilt drastically. won't happen.

Well this sure makes the Mayan calendar even more frightening of a concept. Since 12 21 12 is supposed to be the end of time and we enter a new age/era. Time would be pretty irrelevant if the earth wasn't spinning the same...

Forget about gravity, if the merri go round situation happened, I doubt we'd have an atmosphere.

there's a lot of 'huge forces' in the galaxy

No problem, tether yourself to something and pump up an air mattress before the atmosphere goes.

pole shift

Everyone is going to start sliding left.

By Tilt I'm assuming the relative axis difference from our north/south line being perpendicular to the Solar equatorial plane.

The Tilt directly impacts the seasons on Earth by changing how sunlight hits, is absorbed, and deflected by, the earth's surface. Any sudden change in the tilt (setting aside whatever aftereffects that would be felt by the cause of it) would have immediate and more long-term implications.

For the first few days after the change there would be a decrease/increase in temperature as the ground and water cools/heats. This could easily be survived (again save the causation).

In the long-term you'll see mass devastation to the ecosystem, the stopping of oceanic currents while they readjust to the new tilt's heating areas, and likely some earthquakes and other land mass changes (due to the rapid change in temperature). Jet Stream and other wind patterns would likely see a disassembly and eventual re-emergence after the oceanic currents come back together.

For example, if we were to get knocked onto one side, where only the South pole were to face the sun, you'd see Antartica become a desert, as there would be a great deal of light radiation hitting it, and tropical areas in Latitudes just north of there. What is now the equator would be much like either pole is now: a frozen or near frozen wasteland due to little or no sunlight reaching these areas. Anything north would be permafrosted and eventually snowcapped.

You can toy around with the axis angles and get different results, but sometimes the extreme helps answer the question.

The tilt has nothing to do with the magnetic field that I am aware of. If we changed suddenly then the magnetic North would still be where its at, as it would take the entire planet being shifted in order to change the tilt. I suppose we might have to change the name for it to the East by Northeast pole...but that's about all the worst I see happening as far as pole shifting in regards to tilt change.

Many variables.

The earth is tilted at 23.5 degrees.

If it were to lessen, then seasons would be less 'severe' Summer would be less hot as the heat of the sun wouldn't reach as far north (or south) and winter would be warmer.

If Earth's title was Zero, then we would have a much different world as the equator and subtropical regions would remain constantly 'hot to warm' The north pole and south pole would be at per perpetual twilight.

We would have Spring or Autumn constantly. In theory. However we also have to consider that the ocean currents, the vast conveyor of heat and cold may actually shut down, leading to the poles getting much colder and the tropics heating up.

If the earth tilted more, then winter and summer would become more severe. If it rotated to 90 degrees, then day and night would cease to be a daily thing. Day would be about 180 days, then would come 180 days of night. Thus the earth would slowly freeze (on the side away from the sun) and bake on the side facing the sun.

There would, most likely, form a storm. A huge storm that would slowly cross the face of the earth from what we call pole to pole as the earth orbited the sun.

While it is possible for the earth axial tilt to change a little (a few degrees) the Earth is really spinning too fast to actually tilt more or less quickly. Further, the moon and its gravity/tidal effects keeps the earth very stable when it comes to the tilt.

that's the most well thought out response i've gotten yet. Thanks :)

But how would the magnetic field not be changed? Its already being affected, as the 'true north' has shifted recently.

I hadn't thought about ocean currents and the jet stream, you've provided me some good doom to think about. So if this scenario were to unfold, you don't know where to go until its happening would you?

And since the ocean currents would change, I'm assuming there would be massive flooding and emergance of new islands around the globe.

Interesting

wait, is that stage left??

You're pretty much right as far as how survival would depend on knowing what happened when.

The mechanism that generates the magnetic field is the core. At least if you subscribe to the solid earth theory and not hollow earth as I'm sure someone would lob at me. The core spins at such and such a rate in a singluar direction and is made up of a solid or nearly solid metal allow I think iron nickel. Now the spinning of the core generates the field and at the strength needed to protect us from solar phenomenon.

Now if you are just changing the tilt, the core should still be functioning exactly as it was before. The two are separately operating systems, but do impact on each other to some extent. The magnetic shield protects from some of the nastier stuff the sun puts out, and the tilt helps geological processes to an extent by giving changing seasons instead of on/off summers and winters.

Now I will admit that this is very very very simplistic, and that I am wrong on taking the two apart as any scenario that changes the tilt will have so much force as to impact the rate or stability of the Earth's core, but in order to answer the OP's question the two had to be separated. We're talking an object the mass of the moon or more in order to get a really good change going in the tilt. Needless to say, the only safe place in the event of a tilt change, or rather the event that causes the shift change, is anywhere but Earth.

Ah. You turned on the light bulb above my head, I get it.

I've never thought of the earth as hollow, esp after taking geology and earth studies. Its full of dirt, metal, rocks, and magma. Which also put the last nail in my coffin of hoping to dig my way to another country as a child lol.

I guess I'd been taking the approach that if the earth was tilted drastically, it would affect how fast we spin, and therefore affect the earth's core.

But I don't know if our rotation speed would change, hopefully it wouldn't and you'd be right on point that the magnetic field would be fine.

Yet I still gaze up at the sky and wonder why the moon looks so strange, a straight line from 10-4, and wonder if thats because our earth is tilted like that right now. (casting our shadow on the moon)

Considering that we're really overdue for major earthquakes, super volcanic eruptions, etc. I wonder if we're overdue for this too

Tild would affect magnetic north...

Because the north is a polarity of our rotation, positive polarity "north", negative polarity "south";

Wherever the equater would reside in the new "tilt / axis" would determine as to where the new magnetic north would appear... in reality magnetic north has been slipping eastern over the last several decades, and pole shifts have also been recorded in earths history. (About every 500,000 to 1,000,000 years give or take).

The axis controls the magnetic field surrounding our atmosphere. In the event we had a major axis shift I concur with most of the above post. As an axis shift would not affect our trajectory of orbit or our gravity as these elements are controlled by the earth and suns masses. It would mainly lead to jurastic weathr changes, including continental shifts oceanic displacment, flooding, and volcanic unsettlement. The vast amount of ice in the north and south poles would melt; flooding the planet, creating new continents, and burying others.

The earths axis shifts on a continuing and prolonged event period much like a watches lever slowly passes the hour. When it reaches the pedigree the process is sped up to mimic the events taking place. Which is what I assume happens during mass extinction level events. As most of the known species on the planet are retired, and new species evolve throughout the situation.

I do wonder what would happen if the magnetosphere simply reversed its self howeever. That would be a whole nother doom on its own. As in the feild was introverted, and not reversed...

Wanted to point out i was under the impression the earths center is actually liquid mercury

I do wonder what would happen if the magnetosphere simply reversed its self howeever. That would be a whole nother doom on its own. As in the feild was introverted, and not reversed...

To elaborate:

We have multiple objects orbiting our planet which are deflected primarily due to our magnetic feild.

Now in a pole shift the north and south are simply reversed... thats a common occurance, and would not theoretically impact us (as a magnetic feild would still be in place)...

What i mean is what if the forces of the feild were reversed (meaning that the objects are suddenly and all at once drawn to our planet) with no magnetic force to push them away...

Ok...

So basically our compasses would become retarded but our magnetesphere would be fine.

Well at least while the next Flood came, we could look up at the sky and say, "I don't know what direction that is, but at least we can still breathe!" ...gurgle gurgle...

Thanks for your input! I've learned more on GLP than most of my college classes.

If the magnetosphere reversed, wouldn't that essentially crush us? I'm not sure what would cause that, but I doubt migrating or evolution would help in that event.

You wrote:
So basically our compasses would become retarded but our magnetesphere would be fine.

Essentially yes our compasses would point to true north but the location would change in respects to our new alignment.


Well at least while the next Flood came, we could look up at the sky and say, "I don't know what direction that is, but at least we can still breathe!" ...gurgle gurgle...

Thanks for your input! I've learned more on GLP than most of my college classes.

If the magnetosphere reversed, wouldn't that essentially crush us? I'm not sure what would cause that, but I doubt migrating or evolution would help in that event.


Because the magnetosphere is a field, we would only be crushed by the objects that were attracted to the filed not the field itsself.
[youtube]

Because the magnetosphere is a field, we would only be crushed by the objects that were attracted to the field not the field itsself.

[link to www.universetoday.com]

this short article tells you what is in the center of the earth :)

Imagine how a mime pushes an invisible window (this is our magnetic feild), but then suddenly our performer swites to the pulling a rope rountine ... (only at the end of the invisible rope is a million pieces of space debris which the window once protected us from)