If the Earth started to turn back, it might not be as catastrophic as it sounds

• Earth's rotation is largely responsible for the distribution of every desert, forest, and marsh on the planet.
• If the Earth stopped spinning, it would be a disaster, but if it turned back, it might not be so catastrophic.
• The trade winds at the equator, which normally blowed west, were overturned – hurricanes no longer crossed from east to west across the Atlantic.
• In a few thousand years, the deserts would turn into forests – an estimated simulation that the world's deserts would rise from 42 million square kilometers to 31 million.
• Watch the video above to see how Earth would change if it reversed its rotation.

The following is a transcript of the video.

Climb to the equator and you will move to 1,670 kilometers at the hour – faster than the speed of sound! It's how fast the Earth turns on itself, from west to east. And this rotation is largely responsible for the distribution of all deserts, forests and swamps on the planet.

So let's do a little experiment. Let's say that we reverse the rotation of the Earth. Then what? Well, you will change a lot more than the sunsets.

This may seem like a ridiculous scenario at first. But scientists have actually done simulations for a back-rotating Earth, because that's a great way to test our ability to model our planet.

So, suppose we have a big red button … and … hop! Now, as the Earth slows to reverse the direction, everything would fly eastward. So, the whole process will leave a huge mess.

But let's take a look at the equator, once the Earth resumes its rhythm. These are the trade winds, which normally blow towards the west due to the rotation of the Earth. So, on Earth backwards, they reverse. And that's where things get interesting. At first, the changes would be relatively small. Hurricanes, for example, would no longer cross the Atlantic from east to west. And westbound flights would suddenly be much shorter than those heading east.

Not so bad, right? Let's move a few thousand years into the future.

Changes in precipitation patterns in general would turn the Sahara Desert in Africa into something similar. In fact, a simulation estimated that the world's deserts would grow from 42 million square kilometers to 31 million. Provide a new plant life, which would absorb more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Potentially mitigate the effects of global warming on extreme warming.

Wow, maybe we should really reverse the rotation of the Earth! But wait. If the trade winds reverse the direction, it means that the wind regimes also change. Including prevailing westerly winds that normally blow towards the east across the North Atlantic. And bring warm winds from the ocean to northwestern Europe, keeping the winters mild. But on Earth backwards, the westerly winds are reversing. And instead, Europe is bombarded with cold winds coming from Russia.

As a result, scientists estimate that winter temperatures would drop to 10 degrees Celsius! In fact, most of the North Atlantic would be getting colder and colder. Simulations show that the Gulf Stream – which normally transports warm tropical waters to the north – would reverse and decrease. In North America, the landscape would change dramatically. For example, the iconic deserts of the American Southwest would disappear to become those of the Southeast.

And while you pack your bags to get around the beautiful new green pastures of Arizona, take a look at the horizon and enjoy this particular sunset at the # 39;.