Question

If the Earth were a flat disc instead of a sphere, how would the patterns of solar radiation and temperature be different?

Answer 1

On a sphere, sunlight falls vertically near the equator and obliquely near the poles, producing uneven heating and temperature zones. A flat disc facing the Sun would receive nearly equal solar radiation across its whole surface, so the familiar equator-to-pole cooling would disappear and temperatures would be more uniform; winds, ocean currents, seasons, and day-night patterns would also be radically different.