How would atmospheric circulation be affected if earth's speed of rotation were doubled?

1 Answer
Oct 15, 2017

The Coriolis Effect would double if the angular speed (the speed of rotation) of the Earth were to double.

Explanation:

Since the strength of the Coriolis Force (really a fictitious force, but we won't get into that here) is directly proporotional to both the speed of the object, such as an air mass relative to the Earth and to the rotational speed of the Earth, if the latter was to be doubled, the force would double as well.

As a result, we would see greater curvature in the paths of these air masses (in effects such as hurricanes and cyclones and water in toilet bowls (just kidding on that last one!)