Hello, internet! Did you ever wonder how hurricanes
look on a flat earth? To be honest, I don’t
think so. But now you do! This is a topic
I already thought about when I did the Videos
about the tides because something was odd
but interesting. It’s just a small addition
to my hurricane video while I’m working
on the next one. But first, if you haven’t
seen my video about what hurricanes are and
how they form, just click here and it will
send you right to it. Just come back later.
To make things kind of work we need to simplify
a little and just look at the Coriolis effect
because why would there be a ring of heat
in the middle of the flat surface. You know
what. - Let’s leave it in, just for fun
and speculation. Let’s first declare what
we see in the real world, whatever form it
has. Hurricanes form between latitude 8 and
20. And they travel for the most part eastwards
because of the trade winds. In the northern
hemisphere, they turn north and rotate counter-clockwise.
In the southern hemisphere, they turn south
and rotate clockwise. That’s it as a base.
If we now look at the flat surface and mark
the warm water zone at the equator for hurricane
development, then we can start to create our
hurricanes. First, air will rise in the warm
regions drawing in air from the cooler zones.
This starts an air flow to the equator. Now
we need to rotate the disk. I know some say
it’s not rotating, but no rotations means
no Coriolis Effect which also means no hurricanes.
So, let’s stick with it. The further you
move away from the center the faster the air
needs to rotate alongside the earth. Together
with airflow to the equator, it creates a
rotation with the same direction on both sides
of the equator. Counter-clockwise or clockwise,
depending on the rotation direction of the
disk. So we can already cross out some of
the things we see in reality. Either two or
three options. Let’s do another fun experiment.
This time, earth as a cylinder. This would
be a perfect place since there wouldn’t
be any hurricanes. Why? Let’s take a look
at it. On a cylinder, the Polar Regions would
be just like a flat earth. So hurricanes could
develop. But since the water is much too cold,
no hurricanes are able to form. So back to
our equator. Please ignore that the whole
ocean should be warmer since there is no curvature
away from the sun. Again, our Hurricane factory
is the warm water next to the equator. And
the cooler air is drawn towards these regions.
But if we start to rotate the earth. Nothing
happens. Since the air got the same distance
to travel and hence the same speed, there
will be no Coriolis Effect to jumpstart a
hurricane. It really doesn't seem good for
hurricanes on a cylinder, but it would be
good for coastal regions. This leaves us with
the sphere. Again with the air drawn towards
the tropical regions and the Coriolis Effect
due to the rotation. But this time the air
on both poles travels slower than air on the
equator because of the shorter distance. Which
leaves us with a counter-clockwise rotation
in the northern hemisphere and a clockwise
rotation in the southern. Seems like this
one is our answer. Well, this was a fun little
thought experiment and I hope you liked it
as much as I did making the video. I finally
got this one released. If you got some question
you ever wondered about, just write it in
the comments and your idea could be the topic
of a future video. And with that being said.
Thanks for watching. Have a good one!
