Name: 如果地球自轉 90 度會發生什麼事？ (What if the Earth rotated 90 degrees?)
Uploaded: 2025-04-02T21:01:30.000Z
Duration: 6 min 47 s

基礎被動語態

This question comes from Sock, who asks, What would the world be like if the landmasses were spread out the same way as now, but rotated by 90 degrees?

這個問題來自索克，他問：如果地塊的分佈方式和現在一樣，但旋轉 90 度，世界會變成什麼樣？

情態副詞

It would profoundly alter our world in general, and the weirdly Minnesota-heavy world of 1990s cinema in particular.

它將深刻地改變我們的世界，尤其是上世紀 90 年代明尼蘇達州電影的怪異世界。

To be clear, we're not changing the tilt of the Earth's axis of rotation relative to the Sun.

明確地說，我們並沒有改變地球自轉軸相對於太陽的傾斜度。

We're imagining that the Earth's surface is slid around by 90 degrees, putting the land that's under our current poles on the equator, and we'll pick the Greenwich Meridian for our new equator.

我們想象地球表面滑動 90 度，將目前兩極下的陸地置於赤道上，我們將選擇格林威治子午線作為新的赤道。

So the Indian Ocean is now at the North Pole, and the coast of Ecuador is at the South Pole.

是以，印度洋現在位於北極，而厄瓜多爾海岸位於南極。

Let's imagine that this alternate Earth develops over millions of years, giving time for ecosystems and climate zones to settle out.

讓我們想象一下，這個另一個地球經過數百萬年的發展，生態系統和氣候區都有時間沉澱下來。

And where would you go for a sunny beach vacation, or to chase a tornado?

你會去哪裡享受陽光海灘度假，還是去追逐龍捲風？

This stuff is complicated, since climate depends heavily on the details of ocean currents and atmospheric heat circulation, but we can make some broad-sweeping speculations based on general climate physics.

這個問題很複雜，因為氣候在很大程度上取決於洋流和大氣熱力環流的細節，但我們可以根據一般的氣候物理學做出一些大範圍的推測。

The main driver of our weathering climate is the Sun, which delivers more heat at the equator than at the poles.

太陽是我們風化氣候的主要驅動力，它在赤道比在兩極提供更多的熱量。

So hot air rises at the equator and flows poleward over our heads.

是以，熱空氣從赤道升起，從我們頭頂向極地流動。

Then cooler air moves in across the surface toward the equator.

然後，冷空氣穿過地表向赤道移動。

This circulation is called a Hadley Cell.

For various complicated reasons, Earth doesn't have just a single atmospheric cell in each hemisphere, we actually have three.

由於各種複雜的原因，地球的每個半球並不只有一個大氣層，實際上我們有三個大氣層。

Hadley Cells, Ferrel Cells, and Polar Cells.

哈德利電池、費雷爾電池和極地電池。

Let's assume our rotated world has the same situation going on.

假設我們的旋轉世界也出現了同樣的情況。

This means it would have temperature extremes which are similar to ours.

這意味著它的極端溫度與我們的相似。

Here's what a map of our rotated Earth looks like.

We'll add some ice and permafrost near the poles and in mountainous areas.

我們將在兩極附近和山區增加一些冰層和永久凍土。

Next we should fill in some green areas and deserts.

接下來，我們應該填充一些綠地和沙漠。

The locations of these depend heavily on rainfall, so we'll need to sketch out some winds.

這些地點在很大程度上取決於降雨量，是以我們需要繪製一些風向草圖。

Because of the Coriolis effect, the surface winds in a Hadley Cell flow not just toward the equator, but from east to west.

由於科里奧利效應，哈德利單胞中的地表風不僅流向赤道，而且自東向西流動。

In the temperate zones, the prevailing surface winds are west to east, and at times there are also east to west winds circulating around the poles.

在溫帶，盛行的地表風是自西向東的，有時也有自東向西的風在兩極環流。

So let's fill in some wind patterns, keeping in mind that in reality, things would be further complicated by land interactions and the locations of persistent high and low pressure systems.

是以，讓我們來繪製一些風向圖，同時記住，在現實中，由於陸地相互作用以及持續高氣壓和低氣壓系統的位置，情況會變得更加複雜。

The rising air at the equator carries moisture from the ocean, which then condenses into rain.

赤道上升的空氣攜帶著海洋中的水分，然後凝結成雨。

So tropical areas are usually wet and thick with growth.

是以，熱帶地區通常潮溼且生長茂盛。

Sinking air is cool and dry, so the land under the outer edges of the Hadley Cells tends to be arid.

下沉空氣涼爽而乾燥，是以哈德利氣旋外緣下的陸地往往比較乾旱。

These regions, lying a bit poleward of 30 degrees, are known as the horse latitudes for some reason.

由於某種原因，這些略微偏向 30 度的地區被稱為馬緯度。

In temperate zones, things are more variable, since Ferrel Cells aren't as strong as Hadley Cells.

在溫帶地區，由於費雷爾氣流不如哈德利氣流強大，是以情況更加多變。

Weather there is dominated instead by the movement of jet streams and fronts, and it also depends heavily on geography.

那裡的天氣主要受噴氣流和鋒面運動的影響，而且還在很大程度上取決於地理條件。

Just for fun, here's a wild guess as to where the hurricane basins might be.

為了好玩，我在這裡大膽猜測一下颶風盆地可能在哪裡。

And for more fun, here's a guess about what time zones would look like.

為了增加趣味性，我們來猜測一下時區會是什麼樣子。

New York City, notably, stays in the same time zone and is still subject to hurricanes.

值得注意的是，紐約市仍處於同一時區，仍會受到颶風的影響。

Let's take a closer look at each continent.

讓我們仔細看看各大洲的情況。

North America's climate is similar to before, but flipped north-south.

北美洲的氣候與之前相似，但南北翻轉。

Central America is now icy and polar, while Arctic Canada becomes tropical.

中美洲現在是冰雪極地，而北極的加拿大則變成了熱帶。

Hurricanes threaten Greenland, Baffin Island, and the Maritimes.

颶風威脅格陵蘭島、巴芬島和濱海地區。

Tropical moisture from Baffin Bay and the former North Atlantic mixes with cool air flowing down from the Rockies, creating a new tornado alley in the prairies inland from Hudson Bay.

來自巴芬灣和前北大西洋的熱帶水汽與從落基山脈流下的冷空氣混合，在哈得遜灣內陸的大草原上形成了一條新的龍捲風帶。

South America looks sort of like the old Europe.

南美洲看起來有點像古老的歐洲。

It's cool and temperate along the Brazilian coast, with grasslands and boreal forests along much of its width.

巴西沿岸氣候涼爽溫和，大部分地區為草原和北方森林。

In the south, the boreal vegetation gives way to polar tundra, and eventually to the massive ice-bound Andes, which cut the continent off from the frozen polar waters.

在南部，北方植被讓位給極地苔原，並最終讓位給巨大的冰封安第斯山脈，它將大陸與冰封的極地水域隔開。

The Amazon, which in our world carries more water than the next seven rivers put together, is reduced to something akin to the Mississippi.

在我們的世界裡，亞馬遜河的水量比其他七條河流加起來的水量還要多，但它卻淪落到類似密西西比河的地步。

Asia is flipped in the same way North America was, with the Siberian coast now facing an enclosed tropical sea.

亞洲的翻轉方式與北美洲相同，西伯利亞海岸現在面對的是一個封閉的熱帶海洋。

The Indian subcontinent and former Southeast Asia form the new Siberia.

印度次大陸和前東南亞形成了新的西伯利亞。

The Gobi Desert is no longer in the rain shadow of the Himalayas, but it doesn't exactly become tropical.

戈壁灘不再處於喜馬拉雅山的雨影之下，但也沒有完全變成熱帶地區。

Great Britain and Ireland look like the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, Iceland resembles our Philippines, and Central Europe is the new New Guinea, with the Alps the only place on the equator with permanent glaciers.

大不列顛和愛爾蘭看起來像蘇門答臘島和婆羅洲島，冰島像我們的菲律賓，中歐是新的新幾內亞，阿爾卑斯山是赤道上唯一有永久冰川的地方。

Africa is rotated by 90 degrees, with former West Africa becoming tropical rainforest and former East Africa an arid desert.

非洲旋轉了 90 度，以前的西非變成了熱帶雨林，而以前的東非則變成了乾旱的沙漠。

On our Earth, North America has by far the most tornadoes of any continent, but in this world, I bet they'd be frequent in Africa as well.

在我們的地球上，北美洲是迄今為止龍捲風最多的大陸，但在這個世界上，我打賭非洲也會經常出現龍捲風。

Australia is cooler and wetter, with forests along the formerly dry western regions.

澳洲較為涼爽和溼潤，以前乾燥的西部地區森林茂密。

Without its ice cap, it's a bit smaller than we remember, but most of it is blanketed with highland rainforest.

由於沒有了冰蓋，它的面積比我們記憶中的要小一些，但大部分地區都覆蓋著高原雨林。

There are alpine zones around the mountains to the south and west.

南面和西面的山脈周圍有高山地帶。

The researchers at McMurdo and Ross Island work in a tropical paradise.

麥克默多和羅斯島的研究人員在熱帶天堂工作。

If any of them decide they miss the frozen wastelands, hey, they can always put in for a transfer to Costa Rica.

如果他們中有人決定懷念冰天雪地的荒原，嘿，他們可以隨時申請調到哥斯達黎加。

Now let's check on how the world's largest cities fare.

現在讓我們來看看世界上最大的城市的情況如何。

Mexico City, high in the polar mountains, is buried beneath an ice sheet.

墨西哥城位於極地山脈的高處，被埋在冰層之下。

Jakarta is the new Svalbard, a desolate coastal rock too far north for even most Norwegians.

雅加達是新的斯瓦爾巴群島，對於大多數挪威人來說，它是一塊荒涼的海濱岩石，甚至過於偏北。

Kolkata and Delhi are icebound, sealed off from the warmer world by the Himalayas.

加爾各答和德里與喜馬拉雅山隔絕，與溫暖的世界隔絕。

Hong Kong, Manila, Karachi, and Mumbai are similar to our world's Anchorage or Reykjavik.

香港、馬尼拉、卡拉奇和孟買類似於我們世界的安克雷奇或雷克雅未克。

The ocean isn't frozen solid, but it sure is cold.

大海並沒有結成冰，但確實很冷。

Many cities remain comfortably habitable, albeit with some changes.

儘管發生了一些變化，但許多城市仍然適宜居住。

Seoul, Osaka, Tokyo, Shanghai, and New York City are among the least affected cities, with climates roughly similar to their previous ones.

首爾、大阪、東京、上海和紐約屬於受影響最小的城市，其氣候與以前大致相同。

Shanghai does get colder, but seasonal extremes in all five cities get milder, particularly in Seoul, and substantially wetter.

上海確實變得更冷，但所有五個城市的極端季節都變得更溫和，尤其是首爾，而且溼度大大增加。

It's now surrounded by coastal savannah with spots of rainforest found around the mouth of the Nile.

現在，它的周圍是沿海大草原，尼羅河口周圍有一些熱帶雨林。

Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires cool down a little bit.

聖保羅和布宜諾斯艾利斯稍稍降溫。

Their climate is somewhere between that of our old New England and that of our old regular England.

他們的氣候介於新英格蘭和普通英格蘭之間。

The steady sea breeze carrying moisture up into the San Gabriel Mountains makes L.A. one of the rainiest places in the new U.S.

穩定的海風將水汽帶入聖蓋博山，使洛杉磯成為全美雨量最大的地方之一。

It closely resembles a wetter version of our Seattle.

Moscow is extremely hot and very dry, with a climate somewhere between our Phoenix and our Baghdad.

莫斯科非常炎熱乾燥，氣候介於鳳凰城和巴格達之間。

And London sits in a steamy jungle with a climate generally resembling Bangkok's.

倫敦地處蒸騰的叢林中，氣候與曼谷大致相似。

Spicy curry is now climatically appropriate, the Thames is full of piranha, and it's the only place on Earth where tigers apologize as they attack you.

辛辣的咖喱現在在氣候條件下也很合適，泰晤士河裡到處都是食人魚，這裡也是地球上唯一一個老虎在攻擊你時會道歉的地方。

At the beginning, I mentioned the impact on 1990s cinema.

一開始，我提到了對 1990 年代電影的影響。

To explain, let's consider one more scenario.

為了解釋清楚，讓我們再考慮一種情況。

Namely, what if this change were made to our Earth essentially instantly, rather than naturally over millions of years?

也就是說，如果地球上的這種變化基本上是瞬間發生的，而不是經過數百萬年自然形成的呢？

We're assuming that all the material has magically shifted around, so there are no massive tsunamis or earthquakes.

我們假設所有的物質都發生了神奇的移動，是以不會發生大規模的海嘯或地震。

Even so, it would definitely still be a catastrophe.

即便如此，這肯定還是一場災難。

The ice caps would melt long before new ones could develop, pushing the ocean up by a few hundred feet.

在新的冰蓋形成之前，冰蓋早已融化，將海洋推高几百英尺。

The reshuffling of climate zones would come as a huge shock to the biosphere, leading to ecological chaos and possibly mass extinctions.

氣候區的重新組合將對生物圈造成巨大沖擊，導致生態混亂，並可能造成大規模物種滅絕。

But, if the shift happened just right, and if Michael Bay were telling the story, then, as the waters of the Gulf of Mexico began to cool, and the Mississippi slowed and became an estuary, the region's wildlife would spread inland.

但是，如果轉變發生得恰到好處，如果邁克爾-貝在講述這個故事，那麼，隨著墨西哥灣的海水開始冷卻，密西西比河的流速減慢併成為河口，該地區的野生動物就會向內陸擴散。

And one morning, all those Minnesotans we know from 90s cinema would wake up to the sight of floating rafts of fire ants, followed by 5 million lost, hungry alligators, who would wallow in the mighty duck's now-melted skating rink.

有一天早上，我們在 90 年代電影中認識的那些明尼蘇達人都會被漂浮的火蟻木筏驚醒，緊接著是五百萬只迷失方向、飢腸轆轆的鱷魚，它們會在強大的鴨子已經融化的溜冰場上沉溺。

Add yet more for the characters in Grumpy Old Men to complain about, and lead to a similarly gruesome, if more reptilian, ending to the movie Fargo.

為《暴躁老漢》中的人物增添了更多的抱怨，並導致電影《法戈》的結局同樣令人毛骨悚然，雖然更像爬行動物。