What would be the impact on Earth if our moon suddenly vanished?

Question

Of course, I know this will not happen. Just curious about what some might think would be the differences here on Earth. How important to us is that big rock up there anyway?

Answer 1

Here's my answer to a similar question previously asked:

Let's theorize a bit on this -- Let's assume that all of a sudden we had no moon where there was one. The moon gravitationally affects the earth and is most obvious to us through the ocean's tidal effect. Tides play an important part by influencing ocean currents that move cold water into warm and warm water into colder oceans. This effect causes an abundance of nutrients to be dispersed that contribute to the life cycle of larger organisms such as plankton, fishes and other sealife. Disruption of the tidal effect could have a significant impact on sealife and could result in mass extinctions of species that humans depend upon for food.

The ocean currents also play a significant role in the development of our climate and weather systems that contribute to the production of plants, most of which we humans depend upon for food, and oxygen production. Disrupt ocean currents and you subsequently disrupt the earth's climate and weather patterns possibly creating a super ice age or significant warming of the earth's atmosphere. Any change here could be manifested in mass extinction of most plant species or an evolution of plant species that may not contribute to human's existence.

Another effect of the moon's gravity is on the earth's molten core. Take away this effect and you stabilize the earth's core which in turn reduces tectonic activity and allows the core to cool and eventually solidify. Once this occurs, significant disruption of the earth's magnetic field results in the loss of protection from solar radiation and puts all life on earth at risk of severe radiation exposure and subsequent mass extinction of most life on earth.

So you see there are possible severe repercussions of losing our beloved moon.

Answer 2

The moon is responsible for the tides, which are the process that helps keep the currents in the oceans flowing and prevents it from stagnating. Certain species of plankton find mates and breed only during certain moon phases - those plankton are part of the backbone of the marine ecosystem.

The ocean's natural temperature variations affect the weather patterns - if you look at the Bering Sea area, the weather there is some of the nastiest in the world because that's where warm water from the tropics comes up and hits the cold waters of the Arctic. That's also why hurricanes always form over the ocean and are usually confined to the equatorial and sub-tropical/warm temperate areas of the world.

There's more, but it all breaks down to: the Moon goes away and Bad Things happen here on Earth.

Answer 3

The Moon does have some profound effects upon Earth.

1) Earth's oceans would have tides even if we did not have a moon. The Sun is large enough that its gravity would create tides. Oddly enough, the moon tides and sun tides are of almost equal size. The Sun's gravity is more powerful than the Moon's gravity. But the Sun is much farther so it balances out. When the Moon and Sun are on the same side of Earth, the tides are much stronger. Without the moon, all we would have are the Sun tides.

2) Most of the time, the Moon lights the night sky. Without this light, it is doubtful that any of the nocturnal species would be nocturnal. It is certain that the moonlight affected the course of evolution on Earth.

Answer 4

"If we did not have a Moon there would be no lunar tides. (We would still have tides caused by the sun, but these would only be about 1/3 as great as the current tides.) There would also be no total solar eclipses which I think would be a shame. We might get hit more often by asteroids, as the Moon probably takes some that would otherwise hit us, so that might have meant that life couldn't have developed so well (that's a bit speculative). There would be a lot less mythology and folk tales as the Moon has played an important part in alot of cultures (although I guess we probably would have found something else to write stories about). There would have been no "Moon Race" in the 1960s so no Neil Armstrong walking on the Moon, which is pretty important in modern day culture. It might have taken longer for Astronomy to develop as the Moon is a pretty easy target to wonder about and work out things like gravity etc. I guess there is no real way of telling how things might have turned out with no Moon so this is all a bit speculative. If you can think of any other consequences I would be pleased to know about them. "

ALSO U NEED TO CHECK OUT THESE TWO MOVIES:

Have you ever seen the movie "the time machine" I know movies aren't always real, but in this the moon falls apart and lands on earth and you see exactly what happends. Nothing big happend except that it landed on earth and killed some of society but still society went on and saw the moon as a broken moon in the sky.

Then in the movie in bruce almighty, when he pulled the moon close to the earth ...



ALSO if you look at my sourse it says :

"In response to your question about not having a Moon, won't the Earth spin faster if there was no moon?

Lynn: Yes, this is true, thanks for bringing it up! The Earth's rotation is being slowed through tidal interactions with the Moon. If the Moon had never existed the Earth would be spinning much faster. In fact, our day would probably only be about 6 hours long! The fast rotation rate would lead to faster winds and stronger storms. The fast rotation speed would also have implications for plant photosynthesis, and animal hunting and sleeping cycles.

If you're really interested in this subject you might want to look up the book What if the Moon Didn't Exist? at your local library. It has a whole chapter on this subject, as well as chapters on other events that could have altered the evolution of Earth. "

Answer 5

No. The influence of the Moon is thought to be necessary for life to develop in the first place, but now that it has developed, taking away that influence would not end life suddenly. But over many (millions?) of years life may gradually decline as the tides aren't mixing the ocean waters any more and the Earth's 23.5 degree axial tilt becomes unstable without the stabilizing Moon, messing up the seasons.

Answer 6

very good question. it is VERY important. for some strange reason an asteroid hit earth when it was a baby, at the time it was a fiery, dangerous planet. there was no atmosphere to protect it from impact at the time. when this happened it throw a huge chunk of earth into space. the strange thing is, instead of just flying way out there, it orbited the earth and is now our moon. it controls all tidal reaction that in turn decide our weather. if we didn't have it anymore, the earth would be a violent place to live and would be the end of the world as we know it. at least this is what i put together from studying astronomy in my spare time. correct me if i'm wrong.

Answer 7

There was a show on one of the science channels that talked about this. I didn't see it all but my son who loves science was watching it. I remember hearing that the moon had alot to do with our earths rotation. So I would imagine if we had no moon our rotation would be all out of sinc which in turn would have a dramatic effect on our climate/weather. Also it said something about our moon getting further away from the earth every year. I know the moon is very important to us and our planet. I think this show was on the science channel.

Answer 8

Immediate effect would be no tides. Longer term the planet's rotational axis would be altered frequently. Plants and animals would have difficulty adapting to the end of regular seasons. If one of the poles was oriented toward the Sun half the planet would fry and the other half freeze. This would make for some interesting weather, if the alteration in the magnetosphere didn't let the solar wind drive the atmosphere into space..

Answer 9

The world as we know it would be completely messed up. The moon controls the high and low tides of the oceans and seas. When the moon is really close to the Earth on one side, there is high tides on the other side. Believe me, the world as it is is one complicated masterpiece, and everything in it is here for a reason.
-D4L incorporated

Answer 10

First, our orbit around the sun would change and the effects would probably lead to the destruction of the earth. We would also have to hold a funeral for the man in the moon. We would not be able to have anymore green cheese, there would be no more moon for the cow to jump over.