If The Earth Loses The Moon..

Published in

Storytellings

6 min readAug 23, 2021

9 amazing facts that would happen if the Earth did not have the moon

Although the Moon is 384,400 km away from us, and the Moon itself does not emit light or heat, it has a very significant impact on the Earth’s ecological environment [1]. The Earth’s ecological environment is basically created by the Moon and the Sun. However, the Moon has a greater impact on the Earth than the Sun.

Of the eight planets in the solar system, Earth is the only one with life. The reason for this is that the Earth has a very suitable satellite — the Moon. In fact, the Moon is moving away from the Earth at a rate of 3.78 centimeters per month [2]. At this rate, in another 5 billion years, the Moon will be detached from the Earth and eventually be sucked into the Sun.

1. Tidal Recession

Without the Moon, the first and most direct effect would be a change in the Earth’s tides [3]. Now the Earth’s tides are mainly produced by the Sun and the Moon together. The influence of the Sun accounts for about one-third, and the influence of the Moon accounts for about two-thirds. If there is no moon, high tide and low tide will not be so obvious.

People may think that “the tide is not so obvious” is no big deal. However, this is not the case. If the tides become smaller, the rotation speed of the Earth will change. Today the Earth has 24 hours in a day because the Moon has the tidal force to slow the Earth down. Without the tidal force of the moon, the Earth would probably have only 8 hours in a day.

2. Eight Hours A Day

Only 8 hours a day means that the Earth’s rotation speed will be three times faster than it is now. A very obvious change is the wind speed. Now the wind on the earth is mainly generated by the temperature difference. So now the wind comes from all directions. In the northern hemisphere, the wind blows mainly from the south in summer; and from the north in winter. If there is no tidal force of the moon, the earth will only have the east wind. That is, all the wind is blowing from the east to the west. And wind speed will be as high as 80 meters to 90 meters per second or so [4].

3. Strong Wind Attack

If the wind speed is as high as 80 meters to 90 meters per second for years, the sea is full of big waves. Without boats, the fishing industry is decimated. And because of the wind erosion effect of strong winds, mountains are all gone. The Himalayas have been blown flat.

4. Geomagnetic Strength

After the Earth’s rotation speed becomes faster, the geomagnetic field may also become three times as fast as it is now. When the earth’s magnetism becomes stronger, the beautiful aurora borealis will disappear. The aurora is produced when the Earth resists the solar wind, and the solar wind is sucked to the poles and hits the atmosphere. If the geomagnetic activity becomes stronger, the solar wind does not hit the atmosphere, naturally there is no aurora. Auroras are generally produced only in places where the geomagnetic activity is weaker, so if there are days when the Earth sees auroras everywhere, it means that the Earth’s geomagnetic field disappeared [5]. Therefore, the doomsday is “beautiful”.

5. Emotional Turmoil

Stronger geomagnetism will also affect the living body [6]. The blood and cells of the human body contain iron, which reacts to magnetism. Stronger geomagnetism will affect human emotions and health. The stronger the magnetism, the stronger the vitality of the living organism, and at the same time it will become easily agitated or excited. On the contrary, the weaker the geomagnetism, the lower the vitality of the living organism. The obvious example is that people in the city live in reinforced concrete houses, iron and geomagnetic reaction. People who live in buildings made of concrete and steel are relatively prone to depression and excitement.

6. Loss Of Protection

Without the gravitational pull of the moon, asteroids from outer space would probably have hit the Earth directly [7]. The craters on the Moon represent the many asteroids that the Moon has shielded the Earth from. Some of the asteroids were headed for Earth at first, but the Moon’s gravity caused the asteroids to fly off course. The Moon’s gravity is protecting the Earth from asteroids impact.

7. Climate Imbalance

Without the Moon, the earth’s rotation axis would be unstable [8]. The seasons would change drastically. One day there are four seasonal temperature differences may be. Seasonal instability is not conducive to the growth of plants. Strong winds also make all the vertical growth of the trees will not exist. The birds that can fly will also be extinct.

8. Rapid Increase In Oxygen Concentration

Without the Moon, the composition of the earth’s air would change — the oxygen concentration would increase. With higher oxygen concentration, organisms would become stronger and more muscular.

9. Circadian Clock Imbalance

Earth’s organisms cannot survive in this harsh environment, not because of temperature differences and wind, rain, lightning and other problems. It is the human circadian clock simply cannot live in the environment of only 8 hours a day. The circadian clock has an important cycle called the day-night rhythm. The human body internally perceives the cycle of day and night. The day-night rhythm guides whether the organs should rest or operate. It is estimated that humans can live normally in a day-night rhythm cycle of 22 to 28 hours. If humans live in an environment with only 8 hours a day, they will be prone to cancer and death [9].

Because day-night rhythms are so important, the first factor in finding a habitable planet is to see how long the day and night are. Humans can land on the moon, but they do not plan to move to the moon, because a day on the moon is equal to 27.32 days on Earth [10]. The only planet that has been identified for human habitation is Mars. A Martian day is 24 hours and 39 minutes [11]. And the human circadian clock is 25 hours a cycle. In terms of day-night rhythms, Mars is more suitable for human habitation than Earth [12].

In summary, without the Moon: The Earth would become particularly windy, with a high concentration of oxygen and a sharp change in temperature. This grows muscular, strong grip and low center of gravity for walking.

Is it a dinosaur?