What would happen to us if the earth "flipped over"

Question

Say for a freak reason, idk what, the Earth flipped over...say 90 degrees or more on its axis.

What would be the effect on us if:

It happened fast (say in a day)

It happened slow (say in 1000 years)

And could it ever happen?

Answer 1

Silly question!  We would all fall off, of course.

Answer 2

A total flip north to south?  Well everybody in summer would suddenly have winter and vice versa :)  Over a long period of time would still probably be catastrophic.  It'd mess with the Coriolis force, weather would change, ocean currents would change which could eventually lead us into an ice age or the reverse, an extremely hot interglacial.

Similar things have happened though.  The earth doesn't flip, but the magnetism of the north and south poles have.  You might want to check that out if interested.  It effects geology as it changes the direction of magnetism in certain rocks during the relevant periods of deposit..

Answer 3

it couldn't happen....

I'm pretty sure there would be no real affect. The seasons might change severely and there might be a huge starvation, but overall I don't think anything bad would really happen...

Worse Case scenario is Tom Delonge dying ;-)

Answer 4

Woah, what if it like ... flipped over 360 degrees in a day?! That'd be four times as bad!

Answer 5

I think you need to reword your question. What are you talking about?  The Earth rotates (?"flips over") on it's axis everyday.

Answer 6

well we'd definitely not fall off...but if we were spun ninety degrees then half the earth would always be in summer and half always in winter...actually one of the planets is like this now suspected because it got hit by an asteroid or something a long time ago..i think its neptune or uranus