What would life on Earth be like if there was no Moon?
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/2a/fd/71/2afd71746dd442af8b3e13e00fbe3e6d.jpg
First and foremost, the Moon stabilizes our planet's movement. Currently, the deviation of the Earth from the vertical is about 23 degrees and doesn’t deviate too much from this value. The disappearance of the Moon would’ve several consequences here. During periods when the planet would be perfectly vertical, there would be no seasons, while at times when the deviation was very large, the variation in the seasons would be extreme. Additionally, the Earth would rotate much faster, which would make the day last for about 6 hours. In such a case, the centrifugal force would also be greater, which would in effect weaken the force of gravity. Without the Moon, the tilt of our Earth would’ve changed much more, and probably much faster, and Ice Ages would’ve been more frequent and stronger as a result.
With such changes, there would be far fewer species of plants and animals left on Earth because they would’ve trouble surviving these sudden differences throughout history. Only the fittest would survive: naturally resistant to climate change, rapidly adapting to change, or rapidly migrating - so species diversity would be much smaller. Nights would also be completely dark, which also affects the activity of animals that without the glow of the Moon, would probably not be able to hunt at night.
https://i.insider.com/5d07bb6e6fc9202e196da1f6?width=1200&format=jpeg
The Moon is a shield that protects the Earth from meteorites - very large, with strong gravity, it captures a large part of the incoming objects from space that hit it instead of us. You can see it well if you look at the "dark" side of the Moon - always facing away from the Earth, and thus exposed to bombardment, has many more holes than the one facing the Earth.
The Moon's gravity is not as strong as Earth's, but it’s sufficient to pull our oceans to different directions creating ebb and flow. If this force suddenly disappeared, the waters would begin to flow much slower, slower by about 2/3 of their current fluctuation. After a certain period of reduced tides, the effects would be dire. Coastal ecosystems would be practically destroyed, disrupting the flow of energy, water, minerals and other resources. These spaces are home to thousands of species of fauna that would either become extinct or have to adapt to new conditions.
https://images.theconversation.com/files/244956/original/file-20181111-116841-1euc09g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip
As you can see, everything changes without the Moon. The Earth is shaking incessantly, fauna and flora are poorer, the climate is harsher and the nights are completely dark. It's a pity Mars doesn't have such a cool Moon.
What do you guys think about it? Let me know in the comments!
Guiding questions:
1. Do you think life on Earth without the Moon would be
totally extinct, or would it have to adapt to the new reality? What would this
reality be?
2. What curiosities or facts do you know about the Moon? Do
you know any other advantages of our natural satellite?
3. What is your favorite planet or star and why?
Sources:
https://nineplanets.org/questions/what-would-happen-if-there-was-no-moon/
https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/what-if-the-moon-disappeared-tomorrow
I’ve never thought about the world without the moon. I think that it’s not so drastic situation. In my opinion, the sun is the most important and the world without it would be in a difficult situation. Of course, If there was no moon in the world it would be necessary to provide street lamps everywhere. I’m not so interested in the solar system so I have to say that earth is my favorite planet and it’s the best place to live as of now.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the reply! You may be right that the situation wouldn't be so drastic, although the most "damaging" change for the Earth would be instability and chaotic changes in temperature, which would lead to a shift in the division of seasons as we know it now, to a most likely non-existent one. Everything would depend on the fluctuation of these sudden spikes of course. This situation is best presented in the first picture in the article, it certainly looks beautiful, but probably nobody would like to live on such a planet.
Delete1. In my opinion, life without the moon could not function. A similar situation applies to other planets in our galaxy, some of them even have several satellites. This matter concerns as you mentioned directing the currents and tides of the planet's ocean, the movement of the atmosphere and the functioning of the climate. The extinction of many animal and plant species would contribute to the slow extinction of the human species.
ReplyDelete2. One interesting fact I can share is that the Moon has no atmosphere and the Moon's surface is not protected from cosmic rays, meteorites and solar winds and has huge temperature fluctuations. The lack of an atmosphere means that no sound can be heard on the Moon and the sky always appears black 😊 Did you know about it?
The second information I can share is that the flags of countries placed on the Moon over 40 years ago are now white due to solar radiation.
3. I don't think I have a favorite planet, but I would love to explore other systems besides ours - the Solar System. However, I’m interesting at fact that no one has set foot on the surface of the Moon in 40 years. Aren't you curious about that?
Thank you for your comment! Yes, I agree with you on the great danger to life on Earth if our Moon were not to come. Thank you for your accurate moon trivia! Indeed, it might seem that they are obvious, but you only reassured me that in fact there is no sound on it and the sky is always dark! I think someone has definitely visited the moon in these 40 years, maybe we just don't know about it. In addition, the moon is under constant surveillance of various space stations, so I'm sure we can sleep well :D
Delete1. Do you think life on Earth without the Moon would be totally extinct, or would it have to adapt to the new reality? What would this reality be?
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion the Moon's role is underestimated in today's world. It stabilizes Earth and we are not exposed to drastic temperature fluctuations. Without the Moon, the Sun would heat the poles once and the equator. This instability would make impossible for any lifes to survive. So yes - I believe Earth would be totally extinct without the Moon because no organisms could adapt so quickly to such radical temperature's changes.
2. What curiosities or facts do you know about the Moon? Do you know any other advantages of our natural satellite?
The moon has no atmosphere. It's area is not protected from cosmic rays, meteorites and solar winds. Moon is characterized by extreme temperature fluctuations. The lack of an atmosphere means that there is no sound on and the sky is always black.
3. What is your favorite planet or star and why?
I've never wondered which planet is my favorite. In the result I don't have one. After reading your article, I will definitely read more about this topic and who knows... maybe I'll find my favorite planet :)
Thank you for your reply! I like how you approached the first question, very accurate answer, especially with regard to the poles and the equator. I'm also not a great expert on the subject of space or astronautics, although I think it's a very interesting field. If I had to recommend something, you might be interested in the ESI (Earth Similarity Index), which determines the scale of how planets are similar to Earth. Maybe then you will find your favorite planet!
DeleteI think I have no competence to tell what life on Earth would be like without the Moon. Although with full conviction I can tell that it would be much different. I’m not sure if humans would be able to exist on Earth without moon, if we would, I think we would look much different. I’m not sure if any curiosities or facts about the moon comes to my mind. The only one I thought of is the dark side of the moon that you already mentioned. I can add one thing to it – it’s not really dark, it’s illuminated by the sun, we just can’t see this side of the moon. I’m not really into astrology, if I had to choose one planet or star I would choose Saturn, it looks really iconic because of the rings.
ReplyDeleteMost scientific sources are convinced that life on Earth couldn't function without the Moon. However, such a change could take place at a certain time, the fluctuation changes would be gradual, the day wouldn't shorten to 6 hours on the next day after losing the Moon. Everything would happen gradually, but species too slow to adapt to such changes would surely become extinct, the real question is - what about humanity? I also like Saturn very much because of the rings, you could say that this planet is unique in our system because of that.
Delete1. Do you think life on Earth without the Moon would be totally extinct, or would it have to adapt to the new reality? What would this reality be?
ReplyDeleteWell, in fact, this article answers this question and I completely agree with this, since I watched several documentaries on this topic and similar ones like, for example: what would happen to the planet if all of humanity suddenly disappeared.
Well, for example, an interesting and controversial fact, did the Americans actually land on the moon in the 70s? called "Moon landing conspiracy theories"
What is your favorite planet or star and why?
Of course, our Earth. The mere fact of the existence of such a planet with such favorable conditions for the origin of life even among an infinite number of other planets is infinitely small! but nevertheless we are here!
With all due respect, I think moon landing conspiracy theories are only believed by flat earthers these days. So far, every commenter likes Earth the most. To introduce some variety - have you heard about the exoplanet (i.e. a planet orbiting a star other than the Sun) Gliese 1214 b? As of 2017, it's the most likely known candidate for being a "water" planet. For that reason, scientists have nicknamed the planet "the waterworld". This means that this planet is one great bottomless ocean! Isn't that amazing?
Delete1. Do you think life on Earth without the Moon would be totally extinct, or would it have to adapt to the new reality? What would this reality be?
ReplyDeleteIt's hard do tell but I think we should be able to adapt or even create are own "New Moon". But it would be hard to imagine after reading this article.
2. What curiosities or facts do you know about the Moon? Do you know any other advantages of our natural satellite?
Only thing I heard about the moon is that we don't know what is oo the dark side of the moon. And the rest are conspiracy theories so it's not
worth talking about :)
3. What is your favorite planet or star and why?
I don't think I have one. But know that Sum is quite important star so i will vote for it. Why? because I like taking sunbathes. :)
Thank you for the reply! I like your way of thinking. I wonder what the process of creating our own new moon would look like and whether it would be possible at all. If possible, it would be too time-consuming in my opinion. And did you know that our current Moon was most likely formed as a result of a collision between a young Earth and a Mars-sized planet, called Thea? After the collision, numerous pieces of Earth flew into orbit, and later fused together to form the Moon.
DeleteI'm not really interested in space topics but based on the knowledge I have and pieces of information from the internet lack of moon would lead to crucial changes. Humans probably wouldn't survive and some species would adapt. It's like talking about winning numbers in the lottery for me, I'm just guessing. With modern technology maybe it would be possible to build some kind of facilities resistant to these effects but then life would look like in the movies - people closed permanently in some underground villages.
ReplyDeleteAs I said before I don't know a lot about these topics so every piece of information provided in the article was interesting and kind of new for me. I've learned about it in school but right now it's not familiar for me.
My favorite planet is Earth ;) From every planet, we know deeply enough nowadays this one is the most interesting and various.
Thanks for the answer! We only have Earth-lovers here, huh? Interesting look at mankind's problems with too quickly changing temperatures and surroundings. I think that the settlements like the nuclear shelters we can find in Fallout (called "crypts" there, if I'm not mistaken) would be an interesting and maybe even a very accurate solution to the new problems of humanity without the Moon.
DeleteAs far as I see it, life on earth could not exist at all without moon. You mentioned some facts scientists know. I am sure there would be many more consequences simply leading to no life at all.
ReplyDeleteAs of interesting facts about the moon I have read that only american astronauts have put their feet on the moon (12 astronauts to be precise).
I do not have favourite stars/planet/objects. I like watching comparisons of universe objects and it always amazes me how big are planets outside our solar system or even outside the Milky Way.
I have never thought about what life without the moon could be. It’s just a fact that we used to live with. As you wrote in your article, the first that comes to mind is - of course, the nighttime. It is logical to assume, that a day would last less and nights would be unbelievably darker, as the moon provides light to the Earth during the night hours by reflecting light from the sun. What if we try to imagine that we had more than one Moon? Would be this also strange? For me, totally. But have you heard the fact that other planets have many Moons? For example, Jupiter has 69 moons and Saturn - around 62. We all know the Moon exerts lots of force on our planet, and our moon influences our tides and rotation. Imagine having 69 moons! It’s so strange, isn’t it?
ReplyDeleteThank you for the answer! Yes of course. I am aware of the fact that many objects in space have more than 1 moon, it's natural for them. On the other hand, an interesting question about an Earth with many moons. I have no idea how this would affect Earth. It should be noted that all these bodies would have their own gravity, so the balance, size and distribution of these orbs would be extremely important here. I need to read more about this topic sometime, thank you for the great suggestion!
Delete
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, thank you for this article, it's very interesting, that's how I imagined that the topics of the articles on this blog would look like :) I learned something interesting and new words - for which I am grateful to you.
I'm also a fan of the last sentence: "It's a pity Mars doesn't have such a cool Moon." 😁
It seems to me that life might not have rise or developed differently. The moon determines our life cycle like the sun. We'd probably look like Martians - that would be terrible! To have green skin and such a big head ... ugh 👽
The only interesting fact I can say about the moon is that Sri Lanka has a holiday every full moon and you can't buy alcohol there! Being there, you have to always keep that in mind if you want to drink a beer. 🌝🌚
My favorite star is Arcturus - it is very bright and easy to find in the northern sky. And my favorite planet is Neptune - the "ice giant" 🪐
Thank you very much and I'm glad that I rose to the occasion! I like this sentence too, and it's not accidental, because Mars has two natural satellites, but they cannot be called moons in the classical sense. These are now believed to be asteroids intercepted by Mars' gravity, too small and too insignificant to play a major role in the life of the red planet. This is not a curiosity that I expected, but thank you very much for it, I will definitely use it when I go to Sri Lanka :D. Finally, the first person (if I recall) to make a choice other than the Earth or the Sun! Thanks!
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ReplyDelete1. Answering your first question but I'm not sure. I realised that I had heard of on some science program. That the moon cares about our gravity and that without it there is no way for humans to survive.
ReplyDelete2. I know the most interesting facts, not only about the moon, from the Polish channel Astrofaza and Scifun Especially episodes when Scifun is smushing the flat earth theory - I'm highly recommended it is epic!
links here:
https://www.youtube.com/user/SciTeraz.
https://www.youtube.com/user/Astrofaza
3. I am boring on this subject. I like to look for Capricornus in the summer, it is then best visible in Poland.
Thanks for the answer! I've never heard of the Astrofaza channel, but I know the SciFun one! His flat earth theory videos are brilliant, and I love to come back and watch them from time to time. If I'm not mistaken, he also has an interesting series of astronomical videos covering various topics in the field (including cosmos, planets and various phenomena occurring in space). I highly recommend.
DeleteIn my opinion, a human would have no trouble adapting to life on Earth without the influence of the Moon. Despite the drastic consequences, such as the disappearance of the ecosystem plug or changeable and unpredictable weather, people can adapt to work in the most difficult living conditions.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting fact about the Moon is that although it shines brightly in the night sky, it doesn't have light of its own. We see the moon because it reflects sunlight. The moon is a shield that protects the Earth from meteorites - very large, with strong gravity, it captures a large part of the incoming objects from space that hit it instead of us.
My favorite planet is Venus because it always shines brighter than the brightest stars, or is sometimes called "twin planet" or "sister planet" because of its similar size, mass and chemical composition.
Life on Earth without the moon would be sad in the first place. It is the moon that is one of the attractions every night. We can also observe its phases, which is very interesting. Especially how the moon looks like a banana or we see it full.
ReplyDeleteI once heard an interesting fact that there is high speed internet on the moon, but I totally don't know if that is true. If it is, that means you can already settle there 😅
My favorite planet is Earth because I can explore it without limits. Besides, I have a lot of friends and work here. On other planets unfortunately not 😢
Thank you for your answer! Indeed, if you look at it this way, the Moon is always a beautiful addition to our sky. I myself always follow all phenomena or events related to the Moon and its phases and I always watch them. I've never heard of high-speed internet on the Moon, but something tells me it might actually be true. Personally, I would answer the third question differently from "Earth", but after reading your comment, I think I will change my mind... It's very pretty. Thank you.
DeleteArticles like this one make me feel really grateful for our planet and the overall conditions which make it livable. It’s blowing my mind how every element has so much influence and importance for the fact that lifeboat Darth is possible and conditions are so appropriate. Geography was never my strength and I had no idea that Moon’s gravity is responsible for seasons. I was only aware that it affects tides and without Moon there would be no surfing. On the other hand I have red that Moon has some influence on people’s behavior for example during full moon there are more crimes. I don’t really have one favorite planet but if I had to choose it would probably be Saturn as it’s a gas giant with a ring and it’s has strong connection with mythology.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the reply! Who would have thought that the Earth had all the perfect conditions for the planet itself and life to exist. And even the Moon adds to it, it's truly unheard of. I too have heard that the Moon has some direct relationship with people and how they behave. I know a friend who feels bad every full moon, she always mentions it. I never wanted to believe it or delved into it, but it's an interesting phenomenon.
DeleteI think that life on Earth without the Moon would not be completely extinct, but it certainly wouldn't be like what we are seeing today. There's a group of animals that perfectly adapt to conditions unnatural for their body and are able to survive these extreme conditions.
ReplyDeleteThe dark side of the moon does not exist, it's a colloquial term. Both sides of the Moon receive the same amount of sunlight, however only one side of the Moon is seen from Earth.
My favorite planet is Saturn, the second largest planet in our solar system. It's also the first planet that I was able to track down through a telescope and it was an amazing sight for me! An interesting fact is that, apart from its magnificent rings, Saturn also has the largest number of natural satellites.
1
ReplyDeleteit depends on how quickly such a change would occur. If the situation had always been like this, it would have no meaning now because life would adapt to the existing conditions as it does all the time. On the other hand, were the Change to take place in an instant. Then it is difficult to measure how big the cataclysm would be, but it would surely lead to "enormous confusion" in nature and many organisms could simply perish.
2. Heard there were once so two that stole the moon. They should be punished much more severely for that :)
3. My favorite planet is mars. It's close and they have delicious candy bars :)