Rising sea levels will slow down Earth's rotation

a reply to: Phage

Also Phage, what effect will a slower rotation have on the climate: storm severity, earthquake power, etc?

Does rotation have anything to do with Gravity? If so, will a more slowly rotating-less gravitational Earth lend to weaker people over time?

originally posted by: the2ofusr1
Will this mean that atomic clocks will have to be re-calibrated .??

......probably

a reply to: lostbook

Rotation doesn't change mass. Mass affects gravity.

Mass and Sandra Bullock.

originally posted by: lostbook
You're right, it does expand upon freezing. However, water is heavier than ice. I'm sure of that.

Suppose you fill three glasses:
The first glass with pulverized ice.
The second glass with water at 4°C.
The third glass with water at 99.9...°C.

If you place these glasses at room temperature, the first two will warm and the third will cool:
The first glass will be visibly less than full once it has melted.
Likewise, the third glass will be very slightly less than full once it has cooled.
The second glass will overflow the rim.

Water has different densities at different temperatures:
Ice - 0.9340 g/cm³ (0°C is when water freezes)
Cold - 1.0000 g/cm³ (water at 4°C determined 1g/cm³ once upon a time)
Hot - 0.9584 g/cm³ (100°C is when water boils)

Weights are, of course, different between each glass. Density is how compacted the molecules are within a volume. The mass of each glass would then be different - ice would be the lowest and cold would be the highest. If you were to do this experiment in reverse - heating or cooling water from room temperature using glasses filled with water of equivalent weight, then the end result would still be the same weight(e: if you had big enough glasses... otherwise the first and last would overflow).

a reply to: lostbook

Also Phage, what effect will a slower rotation have on the climate: storm severity, earthquake power, etc?

None to less, the change would is too slight to affect Coriolis influences. Same for earthquakes.

Does rotation have anything to do with Gravity? If so, will a more slowly rotating-less gravitational Earth lend to weaker people over time?

Nothing to do with gravity.

a reply to: Phage
So by those lights ,Phage, the earth has been slowed down considerably with the freezing and thawing of massive amounts of its water during the various ice ages....
With 5 major ones in the past does this indicate the climate and die off changes could be linked to a slower rotation?
or is the slowing more or less insignifigant?

And could the original rotation speed be thus calculated?

If so what would the effects of such a basic disturbance in the solar earth relationship have on the earth and its inhabitants?
Just askin...bander

originally posted by: Greven

originally posted by: lostbook
You're right, it does expand upon freezing. However, water is heavier than ice. I'm sure of that.

Suppose you fill three glasses:
The first glass with pulverized ice.
The second glass with water at 4°C.
The third glass with water at 99.9...°C.

If you place these glasses at room temperature, the first two will warm and the third will cool:
The first glass will be visibly less than full once it has melted.
Likewise, the third glass will be very slightly less than full once it has cooled.
The second glass will overflow the rim.

Water has different densities at different temperatures:
Ice - 0.9340 g/cm³ (0°C is when water freezes)
Cold - 1.0000 g/cm³ (water at 4°C determined 1g/cm³ once upon a time)
Hot - 0.9584 g/cm³ (100°C is when water boils)

Weights are, of course, different between each glass. Density is how compacted the molecules are within a volume. The mass of each glass would then be different - ice would be the lowest and cold would be the highest. If you were to do this experiment in reverse - heating or cooling water from room temperature using glasses filled with water of equivalent weight, then the end result would still be the same weight(e: if you had big enough glasses... otherwise the first and last would overflow).

You're pretty smart there, Greven. Thanks for this information.

a reply to: bandersnatch
The rate of Earth's rotation is continually changing, both faster and slower by small amounts. However there are longer term effects.

The primary trend is a slowing, being caused by the Moon "stealing" energy from Earth's rotation. This is what is causing the Moon to move away from the Earth.

Glacial events would have an oscillatory effect. More ice would increase rotation, less ice would slow it.

There are also short term effects caused by ocean currents and the movement of atmospheric masses.

All these effects are slight and/or very gradual, not enough to cause any cataclysmic changes.

Damn! I was hoping for a little more Sturm Und Drang there old boy......thnks

originally posted by: greencmp
a reply to: lostbook

This makes absolutely no sense.

My thoughts exactly. Ice or water you still have the same amount of mass and weight. Some people have too much time on their hands. By their logic the Earth's rotation must have sped up during the ice ages, correct?

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: lostbook

Also Phage, what effect will a slower rotation have on the climate: storm severity, earthquake power, etc?

None to less, the change would is too slight to affect Coriolis influences. Same for earthquakes.

Does rotation have anything to do with Gravity? If so, will a more slowly rotating-less gravitational Earth lend to weaker people over time?

Nothing to do with gravity.

I can always count on you for honest answers, Phage... direct and to the point. So, when are you gonna do the thread on when/where life originated? I'm sure you have the answer.

originally posted by: lostbook
You're right, it does expand upon freezing. However, water is heavier than ice. I'm sure of that.

As Phage said, water is denser than ice. H2O is the same weight (mass) regardless. That is why it floats in water. There are air bubbles in the ice.

a reply to: Asktheanimals

By their logic the Earth's rotation must have sped up during the ice ages, correct?

During glacial periods?
Yes.

originally posted by: Asktheanimals

originally posted by: greencmp
a reply to: lostbook

This makes absolutely no sense.

My thoughts exactly. Ice or water you still have the same amount of mass and weight. Some people have too much time on their hands. By their logic the Earth's rotation must have sped up during the ice ages, correct?

Correct. However, it does matter because more water from melting Glaciers will slow the Earth's rotation down. Ask Phage or Greven if you don't believe me.

So if the days are shorter during ice ages, then the days are taller during warm periods!

Science is fun!

originally posted by: greencmp
a reply to: lostbook

This makes absolutely no sense.

No, it makes perfect sense.

All you have to do is read up a little on angular momentum to understand. I see Phage already explained it perfectly with the ice skater analogy.

But it's responses like this (and all the stars it received) that imo sum up the insane anti-science sentiment here. Take any subject with the slightest bit of complexity or counter-intuitiveness, and instead of curiosity and outside-the-box thinking (i.e. the exact sort of things that drive science itself) - all you get is tardiness and negativity, followed by backslapping for that primitive way of thinking.

I wish we had internet in the days of ancient Greece, so we could go back and see how many stars this exact same comment would've received, when some smarmy sandal-wearing kook had the audacity to suggest the Earth might be round too.

originally posted by: DBCowboy
So if the days are shorter during ice ages, then the days are taller during warm periods!

Science is fun!

You're funny..you crazy....dog?

a reply to: TonyS

The same school that now outlaws the word "Master" because of its racist overtones in reference to slavery?

Just to point this out, but just because the school says this doesn't mean their scientists are in any way less credible than they were when the school didn't feel that way.

a reply to: tsurfer2000h

Color me skeptical; Harvard has become yet another politically correct pit of vipers. I'm sure their "science" is credible. Its credible "political" science.

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: NthOther

It expands when it freezes.

Yes, water does expand when it freezes. Ice is less dense than water though, that's why it floats.

Water also expands when it warms. And, likewise, warm water is less dense than colder water. That's why the surface of a lake is warm on a summer day, but dive down a few feet...


But the weight of water (frozen or otherwise) is not really the point here. It is the distribution of that water and how it affects the angular momentum of Earth's rotation. More water in the oceans will tend to accumulate near the equator (due to Earth's rotation). That will cause an effect similar to an ice skater extending her arms, it will slow Earth's rotation.

Remember the buzz about the Japan earthquake slowing Earth's rotation? Same principle.

Could the water around the equator cause flooding if the earth tilted or shifted poles?