What would happen if the Earth were tilted at 40 degrees?

[MillennialUrbanist]

Originally Posted by jackierudetsky

Don't you mean subtropics?

Nope, I meant tropics (at a 90-degree tilt). Specifically within 5 degrees of the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. Like I said earlier: in those areas, 24-hour darkness and midnight sun are relatively short, and the average temperature isn't too cold. Subtropics are north and south of those latitudes, respectively. In which case, the closer you get to the poles, the more extreme the condition become. With the equator being not very pleasant to begin with.

Bluntly put, living on a 90-degree Earth would stink as much as the planet that's actually tilted 90 degrees.

[nei]

At a tilt of 90°, the equator would still have overhead sun on the equinoxes, but it would last much shorter than overhead sun on the poles and won't be accompanied by long days.

annual solar radiation at different latitudes and tilts. x-axis is latitude. Each line is a different tilt.



Of course, higher the tilt, bigger the annual seasonal cycle. But the poles get so much sun, it'd take a while to cool down. I'd imagine if the poles were most ocean, it'd never get cold there. Tropics would get warm air from north or south depending on season.

[nei]

Here's a paper on a high tilt earth:

http://oceans.mit.edu/JohnMarshall/w...04771-main.pdf

[Slay The Great]

I don't think the earth would even tilt at 40 degrees. We are stuck here at 23.45 degrees.

[psyche_da_mike24]

Maybe the Arctic would already be ice-free in the summer? Can’t imagine the equatorial tropics being any hotter than they are now if there’s that much seasonal variation in solar radiation. The Persian Gulf and Indo-Gangetic Plain might actually be hotter on average than near the equator; the Mediterranean might be like the Gulf of Mexico today.

[Siberiaboy]

With a tilt of 40 degrees you would have some major devastating mid-latitude summer cyclonic storms that we never had before due to the heat and coriolis force that causes cyclones
Wind speeds that could destroy life in all forms

You would also have major ozone thinning farther north, massive sea level rise,

The equator would be the least impacted.