SinceВ cyanobacteria donвЂ™t need nitrate and theВ resulting water had low levels of nitrate,В it was possible for cyanobacteria toВ become the dominant biological producers across a broad swath of ocean where that nutrient-depleted water reached the surface.ДЄlthoughВ cyanobacterial blooms occur frequently on the real planet,В they remain relatively small in scale, Ziemen noted. The backward-rotating EarthВ also featured aВ surge ofВ cyanobacteriaВ in the northern IndianВ Ocean.В The combination of this reversed circulation and high biological production in that regionВ caused low levels of oxygen at greater depths, making it necessary for microorganisms to consume nitrate instead. and large portions of Brazil and Argentina were turned into deserts these areas typically receive plenty of precipitation on the actual Earth.ДЄ total of 4.2 million square milesВ less desert existed in this simulation than what is found on the real Earth. (Alexander Winkler/Max Planck Institute for Meteorology)ДЄdditionally, the Sahara Desert was gone in Ziemen'sВ simulation, with the bone-dry Middle East receiving loads of precipitation. Dark and light blue show that western Europe became much colder than on the real planet. The tropics remained warm and humid (red) as they are on the actual Earth, but deserts (yellow) formed mainly in the Americas, no longer dominating north Africa and the Middle East. The colors indicate different climate types.

However, this led to severe winters across western Europe, as easterly jet stream winds carried bitterly cold air from Russia into the region. Instead of flowing west to east, the jet stream flow was from east to west, essentially making the climate on the East Coast of the United States equivalent to that of the West Coast today, with more temperate conditions thanks to a persistent flow off the Atlantic Ocean year-round. The sun's daily path was also reversed in the computer model, causing it to rise in the west and set in the east. In their simulation,В Ziemen'sВ research team stopped all movement of water and air, then reversed the direction of the Coriolis force, causing any low-pressure system in the Northern Hemisphere to rotate clockwise rather than counterclockwiseВ as they do now. These findingsВ were presented Monday at the annual General Assembly of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) in Vienna, Austria. (MORE: 100th Meridian May Be Shifting Because of Climate Change) The model revealed aВ retrograde-rotating Earth with drastically different features, including rerouted ocean currents, a surge ofВ cyanobacteriaВ and a redistribution of desert lands, such as the Sahara Desert. Scientists published the results in a recent paper and found that the Universe is indeed isotropic - we see the same number of clockwise as counter-clockwise spirals (within the uncertainties).The Earth's climate would be shaped far differently if our planet rotatedВ the other direction, according to a recent study at theВ Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg, Germany.ДЇlorian Ziemen, lead author of the study, and his colleagues ran a computer model simulation over a period of 7,000 years, which reversed a few key physical processes that result from the Earth's actual rotational direction. The public classified over 35,000 spiral galaxies with spins both clockwise and counter-clockwise in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey as part of the Galaxy Zoo project. A recent analysis of the spin of spiral galaxies confirms this. Thus, from our perspective, half of all spiral galaxies should spin clockwise, and half counter-clockwise.

Scientists believe that on large scales the Universe is isotropic (the same in all directions). Thus the direction of the spin of any galaxy depends on your perspective when you look at it. Or similarly, draw an arrow on a piece of paper in the clockwise direction, then hold the paper up to a light, looking at it from the bottom - now the arrow goes in the counter-clockwise direction. Then look at the spinning top from below the glass table - it will appear to spin counter-clockwise now. For example, take a top and spin it clockwise on a glass table.

The direction that the Milky Way spins depends on your perspective. Is this accurate? If so, do all spiral galaxies spin in this direction and why? When I see depictions of the Milky Way it appears that the objects within it move counter-clockwise.

Does the earth spin clockwise