Results from simulations with the coarse-resolution version of MPI-ESM performed by the RETRO team at DKRZ. The left side shows a normal (prograde) rotating earth. The right side shows a backwards (retrograde) rotating earth. The simulations are forced with pre-industrial boundary conditions. For the full description see the Earth System Dynamics manuscript "The climate of a retrograde rotating earth". 2-hourly precipitation data shows strong convective systems pulsate on a daily basis in the tropics. The annual cycle shifts them to the north in summer, and to the south in winter. In the retrograde simulation (right), they reach into the Sahara Desert in summer and turn it into a forest. In the mid-latitudes, the cyclone systems follow the main flow of the atmosphere, moving eastward in the control simulation and westward in the retrograde simulation.