I've been thinking about this recently. What would be to consequences of getting rid of the Moon, would it be all bad or would the Earth be just fine without it?
I think Earth's gravitiy would be seriously distorted. Well, at least distorted, which might be manageable for Earth as a planet, but have great impact on our living conditions. Also, the vanishing of the tides, which are controlled by moon's gravity, would change a lot of economic systems who have adapted and evolved into the changes of the tide, as for example large parts of the North Sea. Same goes for moonlight, which sets the inner clocks of a lot of animal species (think of moths, and other animals who take it as a navigation fix point, too). I have also read some theories that the moon attracted, for unknown reason, a lot of meteorites that actually were on Earth's course. If you look at the moon's surface, and compare it to the Earth's, this might be true. I don't know why they should find the moon more attractive, but I don't want to find out the hard way wether it is true or not. So, I guess we have to think of something else to offer to the Vorgon's as a bribe.
First, the Earth would not be fine geologically unless we shunt it to a more eccentric orbit to compensate. Good for those freaking about global warming but the new pressure exerted on the tectonic plates would be more likely to cause a volcanic silo somewhere - San Francisco is considered a favourite fault point along with Indonesia and parts of the Mediterranean. They may not matter to you but some people call those places home. Secondly the full moon often converges with oceanographic/marine birthing cycles of life forms, so again the man is messing where he really should be observing a bit more closely first. Thirdly, women have a coincidentally similar time cycle to that of the moon which is why it is normally associated with a goddess (democratically speaking anyway). Therefore I would conclude that if the planet doesn't give you fiery hell for getting the removal wrong all the women in your life will, unless the crabs, fish, coral, turtles etc. don't rise up and bite you first.
No more tides, no more surf. Leave the moon where it is. Besides I'm working on a theory right now, I'm sur they have knocked the earth slightly off its axis while we weren't looking, the moon crescents used to be left to right, that's how you could tell whether it was the first or last crescent, and the last time I looked the crescent was lying on its back. I can remember people saying to me when we went to the carribean that I should look at the moon because being closer to the equator it would be at a different angle. And it was ! It was just like it is now here !!!!:shock: I blame Doors. Oh and by the way, we have several moons, Cruithne for one, and here's a little thing about some crazy astronomers in Toulouse... Hypothetical Planets
Not to mention that with out the Moon how would the Lunatics know when to come out (Not to mention Werewolves). And what would witches fly over on a fine fall night?
I think there would still be surf by the way, the waves are made by wind and currents. The seas might be slightly flatter though in general. I hadn't thought about the night, I guess it would be very dark. There is a theory that the Moon is made from bits that broke off from the Earth after a huge impact, so I'm not sure the Moon is needed for the Earth to exist. I'm not sure how women's periods would be influenced either, but I am sure we'll find out once we start travelling through space, away from the Moon, and what have you. I don't think the Earth's gravity would be affected, it's more the other way around at th emoment with Earth's gravity affecting the Moon - The Moon itself doesn't have an iron core.
Gravity is created by mass, iron cores make no difference except by being an alternate form of mass with a slightly different density to other materials. The earth and moon pull against each other, in a similar way to a fat man spinning a skinny woman around by holding holds. They both have an effect on each other, although the fat man exerts more force. An iron core would only create an electromagnetic field (if it is moving), not a gravitational field.
Sure, but the earth was also at some point a big ball of molten rock, that doesn't necessarily mean it would be all that comfortable for us nowto go back to that again... The earth could exist without the moon, but would it still be inhabitable by most current lifeforms, I'm not too sure. And the winds and tides and curents are all interdependant, if there were no moon and therefore no tides, I'm pretty sure it would mess things up a lot. How Earth and the Moon interact How the moon influences the climate Anyway Mal, what's with this wanting to get rid of the moon thing ? Are you planning anything we should know about ? :redface:
