Yet another reason why I no longer subscribe to National Geographic
Turned on my TV today, and this popped up, so of course I had to write about it. This is stupidity on steroids, packaged as psuedo-scientific claptrap entertainment for the gullible. Of course they had to work in the obligatory New York City flooding scene. But what’s worse is Nat Geo’s wholesale failure to even consider basic science before making this garbage.
From their website:
When The Earth Stops Spinning
If the Earth was to suddenly stop our seas and the atmosphere would change so drastically that it would no longer be able to support human life. Looking to a future where one side of the planet is dark and cold for six months at a time, and the other is bathed in deadly solar radiation, this episode explores how long human and animal life might survive in a cruel new, stationary world.
There’s the usual climate porn in this video, roasting temperatures, people fighting for resources, global sea level rise, etc…but what makes this NatGeo docu-wailer extra stupid is the simple math that tells us when the Earth will actually stop spinning. They apparently couldn’t be bothered to do that, since it blows the premise of the whole show right out of the water.
OK here’s the basic science and math relevant to the issue.
The Earth’s rotation around its own axis has been observed (thanks to atomic clocks) to be continuously slowing down. The main reason for this slowing is believed to be due to tidal friction. This is primarily caused by the moon’s gravitational actions on the oceans of the world.
![EarthMoon[1]](http://wattsupwiththat.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/earthmoon1.gif?resize=622%2C321)
The Earth will still be spinning in ~ 5 billion years when the Sun will turn into a red giant star and obliterate it. Prior to that, due to solar brightening, ~ 500 million to 2 billion years into the future, the Earth is likely to be uninhabitable anyway.
Now compare that to “…this episode explores how long human and animal life might survive in a cruel new, stationary world”
Let me just say whoever produced this garbage science drama for National Geographic could use a good whack upside the head with a solar science book. You can let them know if you feel as I do:
To contact us from the United States, please email comments@natgeochannel.com or go to www.nationalgeographic.com/community/email.html.
You can watch the whole ridiculously bad thing here:
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Ahhhhh – It’s worse than we thought !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But Anthony, you must, surely, realize that the Earth is spinning out of control and something should be done about it.
the local second hand bookshop always has a heap of back-copies of National Geographic for sale and these appear to have a regular turnover. You can find the new issues in newsagent shops each month, such as WH Smith, who also sell them at airports and train stations. They are coffee table science and not the kind of thing you would check out if you really wanted to know about something. Do nice maps and you can download some nice images as wallpaper for your computer. The printed version of Wiki I suppose. I’m not surprised – when you read equally moronic stuff in the pages of New Scientist you can hardly be surprised that a more likely contender for the comic label should do such things.
Probably will stop spinning sooner due to CO2.
Actually, if the world suddenly stopped spinning, I think we’d have much more trouble with various vehicles, buildings, ice sheets, oceans, and people that were going 1,000 MPH (at the equator). It’s not the car suddenly stopping when you hit the tree that causes problems, it’s you (and your internal organs) NOT suddenly stopping.
Perhaps they weren’t talking about a sudden stop?
Did you miss the episode about when the Moon is suddenly gone?
Email sent to National Geographic:
“Science fraud and spin of the worst kind:
National Geographic’s “When The Earth Stops Spinning”.
As seen on December 2, 2012 at WUWT by Anthony Watts
This is yet another reason why I no longer subscribe to National Geographic. Wake up to yourselves!”
Stop the world! I want to get off!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_the_World_-_I_Want_to_Get_Off
They’re late to the party. The 1966 musical covered this – no science in it either ;o)
Maybe all the panicing ones can start every day by facing east and running hard, thereby pushing the Earth and adding to the spin. Yeah that sounds like a sciency way to do it…
Uh, doesn’t the Nat Geo show’s description say that it is assuming the Earth suddenly stops, rather than trying to imply the event will ever happen? It seems to be more of a fun thought experiment.
Oh my god, is the sky falling? And my gas powered drink mixer caused this? Damn the evil oil industry and those stationary earth deniers. The models all show it is getting worse and it is going to happen even sooner than they predicted the day before yesterday…
Yeah but science fiction is so much more fun than that boring real science.
Oh, by the way, Richdo LLC can sell anyone who’s interested some “Spin Credits”. Please respond with desired quantity.
Nobody’s read H.G Wells, uh?
If there’s even the slightest chance that the earth will stop spinning shouldn’t we take appropriate precautions and raise taxes to prevent it? Shouldn’t we? Or if there’s even the slightest chance we can convince people it might stop spinning so we can raise taxes, shouldn’t we? We can’t be too careful, you know.
spinning?
29 Nov: WSJ: Gautam Naik: Polar Ice Sheets Melt Faster
Shrinkage in Greenland, Antarctica Has Sent Ocean Levels Higher, Study Says
Higher temperatures over the past two decades have caused the polar ice sheets to melt at an accelerating rate, contributing to an almost half-inch rise in global sea levels, according to the most comprehensive study done so far…
The new study, published Thursday in the journal Science, estimates that the melting of the ice sheets as a whole has raised global sea levels by 11.1 millimeters (0.43 inch) since 1992. That represents one-fifth of the total sea-level increase recorded in that period.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323751104578149073844418936.
3 Dec: Sydney Morning Herald: Stark evidence of polar ice melt
Using satellite data, scientists reveal ‘definitive’ study that claims sea levels are rising, writes Naomi Seck
The new study, released November 30, in the US journal Science, combines data from 10 different satellites since 1992, carefully matching up time periods and geographical locations to make a more accurate and wider-ranging assessment…
A separate study on November 28 reported that sea levels are rising 60 per cent faster than the United Nations’s climate panel forecast in its recent assessment…
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/stark-evidence-of-polar-ice-melt-20121201-2an5d.html
Hey, remember the Earth stopped spinning in historical times already when Venus went by. Velikovsky said so. /sarc
Well, CO2 is heavier than air so in addition to making the Earth hotter so it will be like Venus, it is the weight that of the extra CO2 that is causing the Earth’s rotation to slow down! 😛
Long before then, the earth’s rotation will become synchronous with the lunar month, and only the solar tidal effects will remain. I recall reading long ago that after this point the moon will begin to move in toward the earth and eventually break up, forming rings.
Well, CO2 is heavier than air so in addition to making the Earth hotter so it will be like Venus, it is the weight that of the extra CO2 that is causing the Earth’s rotation to slow down! 😛
No, No, No,, most of the CO2 comes from releasing carbon from the solid form underground. We are actually LOWERING the density of the surface+ atmosphere hence speeding the rotation up, counteracting the natural tendancy to slow down. This will gain us approximately 5% extra time.(guestimate)
Releasing CO2 from its underground storage has MANY MANY benefits !!!
Once again, you pretend you know what you’re talking about. Are you a geospinologist with recent scientific publications, Mr. Watts regarding what makes the world go ’round? No? Then what business do you have questioning the science behind such an enlightening presentation? The time for debate is over. Unless we act now, unilaterally, the Earth will stop spinning and your children and your children’s children will never know days and nights again!
Did I do that right? Should I have called people deniers, too?
Hey, I thought that conservation of angular momentum had a consensus that it was settled science.
So…………….Monty Python as more science content than National Geographic:
jr
As someone learning Portuguese, I thank upu Anthony for publishing the Portuguese subtitles 🙂
Shite is the same in any language.
Let me guess, readership is fallen, subscriptions at all time low. Oh no..s.
Is this a media attacking us or a media under attack?
So long National Geographic, now reincarnated as Notionally Gullible
Last one I bought was some years ago and it left me thinking; “I want my money back.”.
I’m starting up a business to sell spinning credits. Remit all checks to me soon, or else!!