Hi all, If there were no moon, would we survive? What is the purpose of the moon?

Answer 1

The "purpose" of the moon is what scientists call an "imponderable." There is no why or wherefore to it--it's just the way things are. If there were no moon, conditions on earth would be different in a variety of ways, some of which would have affected the way life has developed on earth.

Answer 2

What's the purpose of the Moon?? What's the purpose of a mountain? It doesn't have a purpose; it just is. Lack of a moon would disrupt the tides, and hence tidal ecosystems, but we would survive.

Answer 3

The moon effects the tidal movement. If there was no moon life would probably differ. Would we even be here in our current stage?

Answer 4

Well, if the moon had never existed , likely we would not have existed, since the Earth's original oceans were probably much deeper, and the impactor which brought us the moon, certainly caused the surface of the primordial / semi-molten Earth to loose more volatile gasses than it otherwise might have.

Otherwise, the moon also serves to shield the Earth from impact meteors, so there would have likely been nearly as many extra meteors landing on Earth as have landed on the Moon, depending on exactly when all those happened, it could again have doomed life on Earth.

Otherwise, as far as the "purpose" of the moon, right now and for the last few billion years' it's purpose has been to just sort of hang out. Millions of years ago, the tidal forces of the Moon/Earth were much greater, - every wave was a Tsunami and the coastlines were inundated with giant waves.

Otherwise, the moon, will hopefully, have a purpose for us over the next couple of decades and then for the coming centuries , as a staging ground for industrializing the solar system.

If we don't blow ourselves up in some sort of global war or setback for our civilization, it's very likely that we will start to form colonies for mining and science , these will eventually give way to heavy manufacturing centers and ultimately launch facilities for missions to the other planets of our solar system.

Ultimately, the moon will probably have pristine sections that look just as they do today , and other parts, that look like a strip-mine or mining colonies do in some remote parts of Earth or Antarctica.

Answer 5

We would survive fine without the moon. The only real short term effect would be lower tides and darker nights. And if Earth never had a moon the day and night might be shorter (8 hours instead of 24) and the weather would be windier as a result. As for plate tectonics, Venus has no moon and is still geologically active, so that shouldn't be a problem.

In the long term it's thought that the moon may help stabilize the tilt of Earth's axis and by extension it's climate. Without the moon the axis tilt would vary more widely, which would lead to more dramatic and frequent shifts in climate. Life should still do fine, but this may have played a role in encouraging the evolution of large animals and agricultural civilization. A planet without a moon might be less likely to develop a technological civilization. Since most planets in the universe are likely to lack moons this might help explain why we haven't met any aliens yet.

As for purpose, that's more of a religion and philosophy question.

Answer 6

The purpose of the Moon is to have something to rhyme with June, you loon.

Answer 7

If the moon had never been, it is speculated that life here wouldn't've happened. If the moon were to disappear tomorrow, life would survive, but for how long?

Answer 8

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon