# The Earth is like, balanced! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 22, 2009, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-earth-is-like-balanced/497337 "2009-05-22T21:05:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-earth-is-like-balanced/497337/21 "2009-05-24T04:34:27Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > It’s not the rotation; it’s the prevailing winds. So, if our planet didn’t rotate you think we’d still have ‘prevailing winds’ or wind of any sort? How would that work then? Would it come in as a draught through the hole in our ozone layer, or am I missing something? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-earth-is-like-balanced/497337/22 "2009-05-24T05:55:54Z")
[the Earth Sandwich](http://www.zefrank.com/sandwich/) ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-earth-is-like-balanced/497337/23 "2009-05-24T06:28:32Z")
Well, this completely messes up the life long conection I thought I had with China. ---
**Author:** ![horsetech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dec6dc/32.png) [@horsetech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/horsetech)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-earth-is-like-balanced/497337/24 "2009-05-24T06:49:19Z")
> [@Teacake](#): > > It doesn’t dig directly through the core like I thought it would. From London, it brought up Howland Island, which is just a tiny bit north of the Equator. My geography may not be great, but I can draw a straight line through a globe. Interesting still, though; I’d never heard of Howland Island. OT: Howland Island looks like a [paramecium](http://tinyurl.com/rdhhh9). ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2009, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-earth-is-like-balanced/497337/25 "2009-05-24T22:26:29Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > [the Earth Sandwich](http://www.zefrank.com/sandwich/) Love it! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-earth-is-like-balanced/497337/26 "2009-05-25T01:44:53Z")
Wild. Pretty cool how the entirety of the U.S. is in the Indian Ocean. I’ll be busting this fact nugget out at the next party. ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_Dubinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@Alex\_Dubinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_Dubinsky)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-earth-is-like-balanced/497337/27 "2009-05-25T05:43:03Z")
> [@Alan\_Smithee](#): > > You can see a couple of complete antipodal maps on Wikipedia [here.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antipodes) > [@Grendel\_s\_Father](#): > > Coincidence? I’m going with yeah, but for a second there I thought I might be on to some new geological principle 😉 I think you’re onto something. And think. What was before modern continents? Pangaea. And what was it antipodal to? A huge frikkin ocean. Where’s the tinfoil hat smiley when you need it?! ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-earth-is-like-balanced/497337/28 "2009-05-25T06:50:08Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > So, if our planet didn’t rotate you think we’d still have ‘prevailing winds’ or wind of any sort? How would that work then? Would it come in as a draught through the hole in our ozone layer, or am I missing something? 🙂 If you want the serious answer, the [temperature-pressure difference between latitudes](http://books.google.com.au/books?id=y0egebdKmPoC&pg=PA70&lpg=PA70&dq=%22up+down+up+down+east+west+east%22&source=bl&ots=jOF5Zbl5LC&sig=mbEHa5VrYP7kCA0Vey6o6amLc7k&hl=en&ei=zz4aSsaYMoGYkQWJ2Vk&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1) would be the major driver. So prevailing winds would orient north-south rather than east-west as they do now. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2009, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-earth-is-like-balanced/497337/29 "2009-05-25T07:09:05Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > If you want the serious answer, the [temperature-pressure difference between latitudes](http://books.google.com.au/books?id=y0egebdKmPoC&pg=PA70&lpg=PA70&dq=%22up+down+up+down+east+west+east%22&source=bl&ots=jOF5Zbl5LC&sig=mbEHa5VrYP7kCA0Vey6o6amLc7k&hl=en&ei=zz4aSsaYMoGYkQWJ2Vk&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1) would be the major driver. So prevailing winds would orient north-south rather than east-west as they do now. Actually, thinking about this it’s completely wrong. If the Earth didn’t rotate the side closest to the sun would be much hotter than the dark side. That means the whole sunny side will be a massive low pressure system and the prevailing winds will be towards the dark side. So if we call the longitude directly “under” the sun our counter-equator the prevailing winds will blow from slightly west of that point, with some small amount of north-south motion imparted from the effect mentioned in the previous post. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2009, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-earth-is-like-balanced/497337/30 "2009-05-26T02:02:33Z")
> [@Grendel\_s\_Father](#): > > Coincidence? I’m going with yeah, but for a second there I thought I might be on to some new geological principle 😉 Huh. Right in the middle of the Indian ocean, there’s a little tiny thing marked “French Southern and Antarctic Lands”. And on the other side of the globe… is a lake in Alberta. 🆒 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-earth-is-like-balanced/497337.md?page=1)