If the Moon were to crash into Earth, it would not be an instantaneous event but a year-long cataclysm. This scenario explores the escalating gravitational and tidal effects that would progressively devastate Earth's ecosystems, infrastructure, and civilization before the Moon's eventual disintegration into a ring system.
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today we are answering an age-old very
scientific and important question what
if the moon crashes into Earth it's more
interesting and weird than you probably
think let's start with the basics why
isn't the moon on its way to crash into us
already we know that Earth's gravity
pulls everything towards it including
the moon but somehow it stays up as if
suspended by some opposite Force but
there is no other Force countering
gravity instead the trick to staying up
is a sideways motion that we call an
orbit you see orbits every day when you
throw a ball it makes a tiny little
orbit the only difference between the
ball's orbit and the moon's is that the
ball eventually hits the ground
basically the reason is speed if you
could throw your ball fast enough it
would bend around the the world and come
back to you if there were no air slowing
it down it could orbit forever and this
is what the moon does falling sideways
around Earth very fast with no air
slowing it down orbiting Earth every 27
days at 3,600 km an hour so for the moon
to just stop in its orbit and plummet to
the Earth would break more laws of
physics than we have time to explain so
how do we crash it into Earth in a
nutshell to change an object's or it you
need to change its speed which changes
where gravity takes it but even small
changes require enormous forces which is
why all the large objects in the solar
system are so stable
nowadays according to science the moon
is big and very massive even igniting
billions of Rocket engines all over its
surface would barely move the Moon it
looks like nothing short of magic will
make the moon fall so we'll use a magic
spell that slows down the moon so much
that it changes its orbit and spirals
towards Earth to get the most from the
experience the moon will take exactly 1
year before it hits Earth ready 3 2 1
1
magic month
one for the first few days nothing
really changes the moon gets a tiny bit
brighter and scientists get confused but
the rest of us don't notice anything
different the only noticeable real
effect of the moon on the Earth are the
tides Tides exist because while Earth
pulls on the moon the moon's gravity
pulls back on the earth since the
strength of gravity gets weaker with
distance different parts of the earth
feel a slightly different pull which
causes the Earth especially the oceans
to bulge when the moon is above them and
contract a little on the sides when it's
not as Earth rotates every day
underneath the moon the moon's influence
fluctuat causing the water level of the
oceans to Rise and Fall by about half a
meter twice a day but with the moon
drawing ever closer high tide gets
higher every day at first barely
noticeable within a month the moon has
covered half the distance to the Earth
and ocean tides have grown to 4 M every
day high tide comes and waves flood
coastal cities and there's no end in
sight with the moon drawing ever closer
Tides rise ever higher inundating
another city and more inhabited land
with salty water every day month two
by the end of month 2 the moon has
covered 2/3 of the distance to Earth and
Global infrastructure is crumbling as
Tides rise above 10 m displacing up to a
billion people who happen to live near
the coastlines as ports become
inoperable shipping grinds to a halt not
only will it slow down the delivery of
quazar products but also less exciting
things like food Global Communications
fall into disarray 95% of the internet
is carried by ocean Crossing cables and
while these largely don't mind the water
their terminals on land do living in
land doesn't guarantee safety either
tidal boards cause rivers to flow
backwards carrying salt water to
contaminate surface and groundwater
supplies gas shortages follow as all
refineries near the coast are abandoned
countries are left with the supplies
they had on their shelves and strict
rationing will begin in the cities chaos
rains during the Scavenging hours of low
tide while survivors take refuge in
highrises when the water
returns month three 3 months in and the
Moon is close enough to disrupt
communication and navigation satellites
while it's normally far too distant for
its gravity to cause any major problems
for our satellites The Closer it gets
the more warped their orbits become as
their fuel for orbital Corrections Runs
Out satellites coren out of
control months four and
five on Earth the tides are rapidly
growing to about 30 m and will be
reaching 100 m in height in a few short
weeks at low tide the ocean recedes
hundreds of kilometers exposing the
continental shelf like vast deserts
while at high tide walls of water drown
agriculture houses and
skyscrapers and now almost 5 months in
the apocalypse has finished its warmup
act since the oceans are on average only
3 km deep the tides have reached their
maximum up until now the water in the
oceans could flow absorbing most of the
moon's gravitational squeezing but now
the Earth itself is ready feeling the
squeeze of the ever approaching Moon
these aren't so much tides of water but
tides of rock the squeezing of the
planet combined with the weight of
quenti of tons of water sloshing on and
off the tectonic plate creates enormous
stresses below and begins to cause
earthquakes of increasing magnitude and
intensity it's impossible ble to say how
serious these earthquakes might be or
where they occur but like a child
jumping on their bed Until It Breaks no
good can come of it strong tidal forces
lead to volcanism on other planets and
moons on Earth squeezing the planet
disrupts the magma reservoirs inside the
crust triggering sizable climate
altering eruptions in Chile New Zealand
Yellowstone and
elsewhere meanwhile watching patiently
above is the moon still no bigger in the
sky than a small Cloud within 75,000 km
of Earth it is bright enough to
illuminate the night sky like Twilight
months 6 and
7 after half a year the Moon is entering
the space once occupied by
geosynchronous satellites where it
orbits Earth every 24 hours it appears
to float at one spot in the sky unmoving
cycling through a full set of phases
every day but only visible to half the
planet with the moon stationary above
the Earth the tide it seemed to freeze
in place half the world flooded half
with its water seemingly returned to the
Sea as if Earth is holding its breath to
prepare for the worst as the moon sinks
further you might wonder if its gravity
would overpower Earths pulling you up
and ending your misery fortunately not
the Earth's surface gravity is about six
times stronger than the moon so even if
the moon were hovering right on top of
you you would still stay on the ground
on the moon things are different though
the near Side of the Moon is more
strongly affected by Earth's gravity so
during the next few months it starts to
stretch forward towards the earth into
something of an egg triggering deep
moonquakes as the lunar Rock flexes and
changes shape though barely noticeable
now this squish will grow to hundreds of
kilometers in a matter of
months Months 8 to 11 at this point the
apocalypse has arrived and we can
summarize the months before the crash as
everybody left has a bad time the tides
sweeping over the Earth slow down and
then reverse their Direction because the
moon now orbits Earth faster than it
rotates the planet will experience an
abundance of earthquakes and volcanism
massive amounts of volcanic Aerosoles
rise High into the stratosphere shiny
enough to reflect sunlight back into
space what little light gets through is
rust red and is periodically diminished
by daily eclipses the result is a rapid
global cooling with acid rains and
summer snows killing even the hardest
plants the clock runs out on
civilization billions have perished
while an x-shaped moon is still drawing
closer let's get ready for the grand
finale month
12 finally at the end of the year the
moon has reached the rash limit that's
the point where Earth's gravitational
pull on the moon is stronger than the
moon's own gravity things on the lunar
surface start falling towards Earth and
and by the time it crosses 10,000 km the
entire Moon disintegrates into Rubble
smearing itself into a massive ring
system around the earth fortunately the
moon's disintegration means the misery
on Earth has ended no moon means the
general apocalyptic nature of things
comes to a halt the oceans recede
flowing off the land one last time any
survivors are treated to a view of
tremendous arches spanning the sky
glimmering in the Sun light Illuminating
the night sky more brilliantly than any
full moon ever could while meteor
showers of moond dust fill the sky it's
hard to say what happens next but the
Tranquility may be shortlived if too
much moond dust rains down friction
heats the atmosphere possibly boiling
the oceans if not the enormous Shadows
cast by the Rings combined with all the
volcanic and meteoric aerosols block
even more sunlight and a period of
runaway cooling could begin the freezes
solid in any case at some point people
will emerge again from submarines or
bunkers or
mountaintops they will not have a great
time before rebuilding civilization and
their success is not guaranteed but at
least they'll be trying to do so with
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