What would happen to Earth if the moon disappeared? Can humans still exist?

The moon has a profound effect on the earth and shapes the entire planet. For as long as human beings can remember, the moon has been moving around the earth in its own orbit, and the resulting gravitational pull attracts the water on the earth, causing it to move together and form tides. Before there was no moon, the temperature difference between day and night on the earth was extremely large, and it was completely unsuitable for human habitation. However, because of the gravitational force of the moon on the earth’s seawater, the speed of the earth’s rotation and revolution was slowed down, thereby reducing the temperature difference and bringing four seasons to the earth. Only living creatures on earth can live normally. It can be said that the moon has a great impact on the earth. If a nuclear bomb is used to attack the moon, what will happen to the earth? How will our world change? You might think this assumption is crazy, but in past history, this proposal has really come up.

The US and the Soviet Union wanted to attack the moon with a nuclear bomb

During the nearly 50 years of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, both the Soviet Union and the United States have thought about bombing the moon, and there is good reason. At that time, the Soviet Union began to develop lunar probes in 1955, and proposed four schemes, one of which was to send a small atomic bomb to the moon, detonate it on the surface of the moon, and use remote sensing instruments to analyze and collect the vapor in the lunar soil. , to obtain relevant information. The United States also suggested hitting the moon with a missile. In the end, both countries gave up the idea because they were worried that the atomic bomb would fall and explode on their homeland.

But what would happen if we used nuclear weapons on the moon now?

I think everyone probably knows that we are not at the level of technology that can blow up the moon at all. Even if all nuclear devices are used, it will only reduce the moon to a few smaller pieces. To blow up the moon completely with nuclear weapons would require 9,000 15-megaton bombs. Once the explosion occurs, there will be large pieces of lunar debris flying in space, many of which will fly directly to the earth, forming a rock rain, we can refer to the Chelyabinsk meteorite that entered the earth's atmosphere in 2013, this meteorite It was about 20 meters in diameter and had a mass of 12,000 tons. At that time, it rushed into the atmosphere at a speed of 19 kilometers per second, burned violently in the atmosphere and exploded in the air. The energy generated by this explosion was equivalent to 450,000 tons of TNT. It was the Hiroshima atomic bomb. 30 times the energy released. About 1,500 people were injured and 7,200 buildings were damaged in the meteorite fall. And the consequences of the explosion of the moon are thousands of times larger than those of the Chelyabinsk meteorite, and will last for several months. Humans had to find underground shelters to escape. The rock rain will also form a dust cloud due to the temperature of the earth, covering the sky into a gray one. When the rock rain stops, the earth will usher in even greater disasters.

The moon also has a strong gravitational force. With its gravitational force, the earth avoids the impact of many asteroids, as evidenced by the cratered surface of the moon. Once the moon completely disappears, there will be no rock rain, but it will be followed by the visiting asteroid or not, and the probability of the earth being hit by an asteroid will be greatly increased.

Our earth's axis is usually inclined at 23.5°. This is because of the gravitational pull of the moon. The moon disappears and the earth's axis swings out of control. When it swings between 10° and 45°, the weather conditions on the earth will be unpredictable. , the earth's crust begins to move frequently, and natural disasters such as earthquakes and volcanoes will greatly increase.

Tides caused by the moon

The moon has the greatest impact on the tides of the earth. Without the moon, the high tides and low tides on the earth will be reduced by about 75%, and those marine animals that rely on tidal phenomena will be difficult to survive, which also affects the higher levels that rely on them for food. For the large animals in the food chain, apart from tidal movements, many creatures on the earth cannot grow without the moon. These creatures rely on the moon to remind them to prey and reproduce. Once the moon disappears, the entire ecosystem will be affected, and humans will also be affected. Will face a series of consequences from the collapse of the food chain. Plus, without tides, tsunamis will follow. Tides are also conducive to the movement of ocean currents. Once the tides disappear, the global climate will be disrupted, and regional temperatures will go to extremes.

special of the moon

Seeing here, we recognize the importance of the moon to the earth. In fact, the moon's presence in the solar system is quite special. You know, the normal volume ratio of planets and satellites should be above 1000, such as Saturn and its satellite "Titan", Neptune and its satellite Triton, but the volume ratio of the Earth and the moon is too large, only 1 : 81. Compared with its other planets, the moon is indeed small, but compared with other satellites, the moon can be much larger. And many other large moons in the solar system are half icy and half rocky, but unlike the moon, which is mostly rocky, the moon is more massive than other larger moons. This special existence even led to a bold conjecture, that the moon is the product of an advanced civilization of aliens, and was specially placed near the earth to "protect the earth". Of course, this is just a conjecture. Regarding the origin of the moon, the scientific community is in disagreement. The split theory, the capture theory, the homology theory, and the collision theory have been proposed, but there is no conclusion.