Expert: James Gort - 4/19/2005

Question
What would happen if the earth stopped rotating gradually?

Answer
Sarah,

The days would get longer than 24 hours, until one side of the earth would always be day, and the other side would always be night.  But because the earth is tilted 23.5 degrees to its orbit, the extreme northern and southern hemispheres would still have days and nights, but they would each be about a year long.  Weather would become much more extreme (the sunlit side would become very hot, and the dark side very cold, although very strong winds would try to even it out a little).  Very little vegetation would grow on the dark side.  The earth would become a very much harsher place to live, and droughts would be common.  Many plants and animals would die, but humans would probably adapt and survive.

Hope that helps.