Yes, the Earth could exist without the moon, but life may not be preserved!
2006-08-15 08:43:18
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answer #1
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answered by happymrzot 6
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Yes, but Earth would be very different from the Earth we have and know now!!Earth would spin much faster without its orbiting moon. That's because the moon's gravity pulls on Earth's oceans. The moon is largely responsible for the tides. The pull of the moon, and ebb and flow of the tides, puts the brakes on Earth's daily rotation. Billions of years ago, Earth spun around on its axis much faster. At one time, the cycle of day and night was less than ten hours long. If we'd never had a moon, we'd still have a shorter day.
If Earth rotated faster, other effects would come into play. Wind patterns would likely be stronger and longer lived. Consider the giant planet Jupiter, which rotates in about ten hours. Hurricanes on Jupiter can be enormous and last for centuries. Wind patterns stretch across the entire planet, giving Jupiter the banded appearance you can see through a telescope.
A constant gale force wind on Earth would have affected life and evolution. Imagine working, talking, or just walking around against the howling winds. Imagine trying to navigate a ship at sea. Exploration would have been greatly affected (much to the pleasure of some native peoples no doubt!) It is even possible that some life forms might not even exist under such conditions.
Our nearest neighbour in space has been a major part of our lives. The next time you gaze at the moon, think of the role it has played, and how lost we might be without it!
2006-08-15 08:56:26
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answer #2
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answered by Anonymous
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Yes the earth would exist without the moon. It does nothing but rotate around the earth as it is captured in the earths gravitational field. It DOES have an effect on ocean tides, but the planet would survive just fine without it being there. It would be a bit darker at night though...
The real question is, can the moon exist without the earth...
The answer is no...it would not. It is small enough that it would likely float meaningless in space until it was captured by the graviational field of another planet or larger object.
2006-08-15 08:43:13
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answer #3
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answered by PaPaFreak 3
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The earth would exist but unfortunately we wouldn't as the moon acts as a stabilising force, hence why the earth revolves on an axis, and why we have a consistant environment. If there were no moon then our earth would look something like Mars, as the weather patterns would be to erratic for life to evolve. In this instance some regions of the earth would be in constant exposure to the sun for extended periods of the time, while other will be in darkness. There would be no seasons as we know of, and no night or day.
2006-08-15 13:39:14
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answer #4
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answered by Clever1 1
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The earth could be very diverse devoid of the moon. Earth might nevertheless be ih a similar place, shifting around the sunlight, however the moon is what keeps the earth's rotation axis in a similar spot each and all of the time. If we did no longer have the moon, the axis would not shop pointing in the direction of the north celeb, yet might start to tilt farther faraway from the sunlight and finally the pole might element promptly on the sunlight, meaning that we would end having day and night - it could be total night on one area of the earth and total day on the different area for a at the same time as. might kill each little thing in the international.
2017-01-04 05:50:24
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answer #5
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answered by inzano 4
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The earth would exist if the moon weren't there. There are theories abound that suggest that the moon is actually a large piece of the earth that broke off when a massive asteroid/comet or something hit us. Over the billion or so years since, they both rounded out.
Life would not exist though, as the moon regulates much of the earth. the oceans and atmosphere would be all but stagnant without the moon, in which case, I highly doubt much of anything could live.
2006-08-15 08:42:15
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answer #6
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answered by Phoenix 3
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Sure it would, it would just be different. Is your question, would life exist on earth without the moon? Tough to say.... only guarantee is that it would be alot different without the moon. Maybe the moon blocked a few big meteors for us, maybe we would not have evolved without the moon pulling the tides back and forth, maybe the tectonic shifts would have been different.
2006-08-15 08:42:15
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answer #7
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answered by dizzygillespie 2
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Better yet... would the moon exist without the Earth?
2006-08-15 08:41:45
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answer #8
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answered by Dude 3
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It depends upon how you intend to get rid of the moon. If you blow the damn thing up, it could have a big effect on the Earth. It may not destroy our lovely little planet but it could damage it severely. If it just wasn't there then I don't think much would change. The oceans would behave differently due to the absence of tides and there'd be nothing pretty to look at in the night sky, but I don't think anyone would really miss it.
2006-08-15 11:21:44
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answer #9
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answered by Katri-Mills 4
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Well the sun is a burning lamp and the moon is a reflective surface. It states this in the Quran 1400 years ago and scientists have just discovered this true statement in the last century,so only god knows. so God created the moon to reflect light when a certain part of the Earth was not receiving any sunlight.
2006-08-15 08:45:19
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answer #10
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answered by knowledge is power 1
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