Astronomy Wonder Project

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Astronomy wonder question: What would be the effects on Human Life if Earth’s Moon disappeared?

If Earths Moon were to vanish it would bring about extensive changes, to both human existence and the environment of our planet. Lets explore some of the consequences: 

  

  1. Effects on Tides

Decreased activity, the Moons gravitational pull plays a role in shaping Earths tides. In the absence of the Moon, the flow of tides would be noticeably less dramatic, influenced by the Sun, which provides half of the tidal influence compared to the Moon. 

Impact on Marine Ecosystems, numerous marine creatures rely on patterns for feeding, reproduction and navigation. A decrease in variations could disrupt these rhythms potentially leading to population declines, among certain species and affecting marine biodiversity.  

  1. Stabilization of Earth’s Axis

    Axis Tilt Instability, seasonal changes are caused by Earth’s axial tilt; the Moon helps maintain balance to ensure its tilt does not change. The Moon keeps the axis of the Earth and therefore, the tilt stable; without the Moon extreme changes in the climate and extreme weather patterns could occur over time.

    Impact on Seasons: Higher axial tilt may bring even more intense seasons, shorter of course, but with hotter summer and colder winter or even complete absence of the seasons in some geographical regions. This would impact them majorly in areas such as agriculture, ecosystem and human settlement.

    3. Length of Day

    Slower Rotation: As has been depicted, the Moon acts as a brake and gradually reduces the speed of rotation of the Earth (a phenomenon known as tidal braking). It’s hypothesised that if the Moon were not present, this braking effect is reduced resulting in a slower rate of slowing down of a day over geological time scales.

    Impact on Circadian Rhythms: The human and other animals biological clock which is regulated by the twenty-four hour day could be affected if the length of the day is altered as changes in this would affect the sleep pattern and/ or health of the individual. 

  2. Biological and Ecological Effects

    Disruption of Nocturnal Activities: Nighttime is produced by the moonlight and many animals are influenced by it given that it is a resource that is naturally available to them. If there was no moon at all, nights would be darker than usual, and this could affect the hunting/gathering patterns of various species or the mobility of nocturnal creatures.

    Human Culture and Folklore: The Moon has different social and ritual values in the lives of numerous peoples and in their cultures, myths, and legends. These include; They would affect cultural practices, folklore as well as artistic performances.
     

  3. 5. Potential Climate Effects

    Altered Ocean Currents: Alterations to the tide could then also impact the water movement or currents, which are very vital in maintaining global temperatures. Flows changed, possibly by affecting the climate zones thereby influencing weather systems around the world.

    Long-term Climate Changes: It is said that over long periods of time, without the mechanims of the Moon moderating the tilt, drastic climate changes could affect the climate, reconfiguring the climate of certain areas.

    Conclusion 

The consequences of the moon’s absence could be catastrophic for all life on earth, especially humans. Our ecosystems would be destroyed as the tides would become shallow due to the absence in the moon’s gravitational pull, this will cause deter mental damage towards marine life because organisms like crabs, fish’s and turtles in the coastal area’s would perish. This would disrupt the balance completely because their predators no longer have a food source and us humans would be massively impacted because the sea food industry takes up over 1.7% of total food production, this might not seem like a lot, but this translates to around 179 million tons of food. This alone could starve 12% of the global population. This also effects the land animal population because most animals rely on lunar patterns for mating but without the moon the population of lots of species could decrease causing even more food shortages not only for their predators but especially for us humans. A huge thing which could quite literally destroy the planet is the weather which would become completely untraceable and out of control. The hottest and coldest places on earth would plunge so far into these temperatures it would become un-livable for lots of animals, let alone humans. Another huge thing that would happen to the Earth is the shift in its axis because when you remove the moon it only has 1.2% effect of Earth’s gravity but that’s still very significant in keeping the balance on Earth perfect to live on like us humans. There is theory that the last time the Earth’s axis moved it plunged the Earth into an ice age. This could very likely happen because when you remove the moon the Earth will tilt off its axis creating huge weather fluctuations. To conclude, these were the major things that would affect the Earth and especially human life if the Moon were to disappear, and in my opinion, humans couldn’t survive nearly as long as they did without the moon.  

Thank You! 

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