Sarah Bishop – Science Teacher & Year 10 Tutor

Outer Space

Do you have what it takes to head into outer space? This is a question that Year 8 Science students have been pondering for the past few months. Further questions included what do astronauts really do? Where do they go? And perhaps most importantly: what do they wear?

Year 8 enthusiastically faced a series of problems and looked for possible solutions, developing skills that all astronauts should possess along the way. One such problem that sparked debate was whether we should straighten the Earth’s tilt. What would the impact of this be? And how would we even achieve this?

Amir W, Joel Allen and Jesse Barel share their thoughts below:

The earth’s tilt should not be amended

In the media recently, there has been talk of artificially fixing the Earth’s tilt. Today, we will be explaining why this idea is not only flawed but outright nonsensical. This is due to the difficulty it would cause in agricultural practices, removal of seasons and danger to various animal species.

Humans would also be affected economically. Tourism for places close to the North Pole will essentially become non-existent, as the area would become unliveable. The Earth’s tilt being straightened would also likely cause mass migration of humans and maybe some animals, to the Earth’s tropical centre (equator).  

Firstly, the concept of seasons would cease to exist after amending the Earth’s tilt. 

The entire planet would receive a constant equinox, forever a spring like season, this would endanger season reliant species, such as Sahara Desert Ant, who can only survive in very hot or cold environments. Deserts would be cooled and mountains would be heated, which could possibly cause the extinction of hundreds of species that have adapted to live in hot or cold climates.

Fixing the Earth’s tilt would also result in countless locations, such as Bondi Beach or Whistler Blackcomb, having a completely changed climate. These locations would sit in a permanent spring like equinox, and therefore would not be warm enough to swim or cold enough to ski. Places like Whistler Blackcomb, a famous ski resort in Winter and mountain biking park in Summer, would lose practically all tourist attraction as the climate would be too warm to ski yet too cold to mountain bike.

Finally, there are many season dependent crops which can only grow in Summer or Winter, and therefore these would be impossible to grow in the natural climate after amending the Earth’s tilt. These crops include broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, lettuce, peas, spinach, tomatoes etc. These crops would be impossible to grow without an artificial climate and therefore would become much more expensive to grow and purchase.

In conclusion, the countless arguments against amending the Earth’s tilt proves that it is not worth potentially wiping out millions of species to simply have 12 hour days and 12 hours nights; a trivial change that does not even benefit our world. While technological advances should be utilised to help humanity, we must remember to look out for the rest of our planet, while we still can.