IN MAY 1110, the Moon inexplicably disappeared from the night sky.
Almost 900 years later, it was confirmed that gas from volcanoes had clouded the sky, and the Moon had not actually left Earth’s side.
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But what if it had? What if the Moon disappeared or was destroyed?
The answer is that life on Earth would be fundamentally different, if not at risk of destruction.
No tides
The most noticeable thing for coastal Americans would be the sudden disappearance of tides.
Ocean water responds to the position of the Moon and causes tides.
If the Moon disappeared, the strength of tides would be reduced by 66% and that relative stillness of the ocean would be a problem for marine biology.
Many organisms are dependent on tides for food to be churned up from the depths or migration patterns.
It might actually be worse if the Moon came closer to the Earth rather than disappearing as the increased force of the Moon’s gravity would probably flood New York City and other coastal areas.
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Darker nights
If the Moon disappeared and the day became a Moon-less night, we might notice it would be much darker on Earth.
In the absence of the Moon, predators that are reliant on a small amount of moonlight would have trouble spotting prey on darker nights.
The next brightest object in the night sky would be Venus – 2,000 times less bright than the Moon.
No seasons
Over time, the disappearance of the Moon would impact the Earth’s axis.
The Earth’s kilter is what reliably delivers seasons and without the Moon’s gravity to tilt the Earth to a comfortable 23.5 degrees, we might experience less discernable seasons as the Earth tips toward a 0-degree tilt.
Conversely, we could experience extreme, life-threatening weather conditions if the Earth’s tilt increased in the absence of the Moon’s counterbalancing weight.
If the Earth’s tilt grew to 90 degrees, one side would be in complete darkness for six months while the other side was obliterated by sunlight.
Will the Moon ever disappear?
It would take a colossal effort to destroy the Moon.
If Ceres, the largest known asteroid, collided with the Moon, the impact would not destroy our celestial buddy.
SyFy calculated that it would take 120,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 sticks of dynamite to destroy the Moon.
Alternatively, 287billion of the largest bombs ever made should get the job done.
Fortunately, Darth Vader’s Death Star has not been spotted setting its sights on our Moon because without it there would be disastrous ecological problems.
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