What would happen if the moon suddenly disappeared?

Pedro_P

Life as we know it probably wouldn’t exist.

The moon is vital to our survival.
NASA
▼ The moon is more than just a pretty face to gaze upon at night. It helps direct our ocean currents and tides, the movement of Earth’s atmosphere and climate, and even the tilt of our planet’s axis.
So what would happen to Earth, and us, if it promptly disappeared without notice? Would we survive it? Sadly, probably not.
Right away, we would notice that “nighttime” would be significantly darker. The moon’s surface reflects the sun’s light, brightening our night sky. Without that indirect glow, any areas that don’t have access to artificial light, like country roads or wooded campsites, would become far riskier to travel through at night.
The moon’ssudden absence would also confuse animals. In a 2013  reviewin theJournal of Animal Ecology, researchers found animals that use vision as their primary mode of interacting with the world benefit (survival-wise) from the moon’s presence. That’s no big surprise, but it does have interesting implications for the question at hand. Many predators, like owls and lions, rely on the cover of darkness with just a bit of moonlight to hunt effectively. With no moon, they would have trouble finding food. Rodents, on the other hand, tend to hide more when the moonlight is strong. It’s easier for their predators to detect them. With no moon, they would thrive. “I think you’d see some shifts in which species are common and which species are rare in a system,” says the study’s lead author Laura Prugh, a wildlife ecologist at the University of Washington.
The next immediate difference would be the tides. Because the moon is so close to us, the pull of its gravity impacts our planet. It’s not as strong as the gravity that the Earth exerts upon the moon to hold it in orbit, but it’s enough to pull our oceans back and forth, a force we call “the tides.” Without the moon, tides would rise and fall at a much slower rate, about one third of their current fluctuation, says Matt Siegler, a research scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who works on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. The tideswouldn’t completely stop moving as the sun also has some gravitational pull on the oceans, too, but not nearly as much as the moon. (▪ ▪ ▪)

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booklover1980

I think it would amount to the end if life as we know it. The  massive climate change alone would kill Off most species  

rkrishnay

1. We'd be more vulnerable to asteroids
First of all, if the moon were destroyed violently enough for it to break apart, we'd likely experience a pretty violent moon rock storm down here on Earth. Plus, ever wonder how the moon got all those huge craters? It's a veritable punching bag for big ol' asteroids, stopping some that might otherwise make their way down here. Without a protector, we'd be in the line of fire for more asteroids than we are now, which as any dinosaur will tell you, could be very, very bad.

2. The tides would completely stop
With the gravitational pull of the moon missing, tides as we know them would be over. There would still be waves (since the sun also slightly affects the movement of the ocean), but the churning currents as we know them would diminish. That would have a devastating effect on swaths of sea life—which rely on particular paths of nutrients for survival—and ultimately lead to the mass extinction of species.

3. Earth could have a nervous breakdown
Due to the loss of the gravitational pull, or the "flexing" that Earth's grown accustomed to for the last 4.5 billion years, the core of the planet might feel some awkward shifting. That could set off any number of very, very bad things like earthquakes or volcanoes.

4. The climate would go haywire
Many scientists believe that Earth's current tilt is a byproduct of the huge collision that produced the moon millions of years ago, and is only held stable by its continued orbiting around our pale blue dot. So, without a moon, the Earth's axis could dangerously shift. That could activate a litany of scary scenarios, including a wild change in seasons and climate, potentially rendering huge portions—if not all—of the planet uninhabitable for parts of the year.

5. Days would be shorter
The Earth would actually spin a little faster without the moon. That's because the gravitational pull responsible for controlling the ocean tides also causes what is known as "tidal friction," which drags down the speed of the Earth’s rotation and is the reason our days have been growing longer over time. With the bulge of the tides gone, we'd be spinning ever so slightly faster, meaning days would be shorter and our current calendars and clocks would wind up out of sync.

6. The night sky would be one a hell of a spectacle
If you thought stargazing was awesome now, imagine how much better it would be without a big white light interfering with your view.

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interesting.....

jitukawade

very intresting

Jadon

nice reading material... Thank you sir

CaptSandy

The tide effect loss would impact the earth and the climates will ceases..I guess the earth species will be wiped off

Mitu.delghy

Good God!!! Never thought about it before.

vys

Gravitational pull from the moon would disappear causing disturbance in the tides and rotation of earth, which will ultimately lead to extinction of the species.

andy161161

Gravity pull is one factor but also the days would shorten