WEBVTT - What If The Moon Disappeared?

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<v Speaker 1>Hi, I'm Lauren Vogelbauma, host of the new house Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>Works Now podcast. Every week, I'll be bringing you three

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<v Speaker 1>stories from our team about the weird and wondrous developments

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<v Speaker 1>we've seen in science, technology, and culture. Fresh episodes will

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<v Speaker 1>be out every Monday on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play Music,

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<v Speaker 1>and everywhere else that fine podcasts are found. Welcome to

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff from how Stuff Works. Oh hey, there, brain Stuff.

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<v Speaker 1>It's Christian Seger and it is time you and I

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<v Speaker 1>had to talk about the Moon. I know we haven't

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<v Speaker 1>been there in a while, but it is pretty rad.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, we think that about four point five billion

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<v Speaker 1>years ago, something the size of Mars crashed into Earth

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<v Speaker 1>and ricocheted into space to form the Moon. It even

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<v Speaker 1>took some of Earth's mantle with it, so there's ancient

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<v Speaker 1>chunks of our planet merged with space stuff up there

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<v Speaker 1>just hanging out in orbit. But even with all that,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm not sure the Moon gets all the credit it deserves.

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<v Speaker 1>If it wasn't there, things would be a lot different

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<v Speaker 1>here on our little blue planet. First, we'd see some

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<v Speaker 1>pretty dramatic changes to the ocean. The Moon is responsible

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<v Speaker 1>for most of the effects of tides without it, the

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<v Speaker 1>tides would only be a third of the size that

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<v Speaker 1>they are now. This is because the Sun would account

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<v Speaker 1>for the major gravitational pull affecting the altitude of the ocean.

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<v Speaker 1>And while the Sun is way bigger than the Moon,

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<v Speaker 1>like like four times bigger, it is also much further away,

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<v Speaker 1>so the tides it creates only have about of the

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<v Speaker 1>strength of our current lunar tides. Surfing wouldn't be the

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<v Speaker 1>only thing that suffered. Lots of ecosystems rely on the

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<v Speaker 1>motion and changes of the tides to sustain them. Plus,

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<v Speaker 1>the Moon holds a bulge of tidal water around Earth's

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<v Speaker 1>middle that would disperse without its gravity, changing coastlines around

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<v Speaker 1>the world. Also, did you know that the Moon helps

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<v Speaker 1>slow down the rotation of Earth yep. Without it, we

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<v Speaker 1>wouldn't have twenty four hour days. They'd be more like

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<v Speaker 1>six to eight hours long. We'd have to remake our

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<v Speaker 1>calendar to accommodate between eleven hundred and fourteen hundred days

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<v Speaker 1>per year. Not only would that screw up all of

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<v Speaker 1>our schedules, but a faster rotation would also increase the

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<v Speaker 1>amount of wind and storms on our planet. If that's

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<v Speaker 1>not extreme climate change enough, for you. No moon would

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<v Speaker 1>also destabilize the Earth's access unpredictably, changing our tilt with

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<v Speaker 1>side effects that would render the planet inhospitable to lots

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<v Speaker 1>of its creatures. Right now, we're tilted at a lovely

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<v Speaker 1>twenty three degrees, which gives us relatively mild seasons and environments,

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<v Speaker 1>but the Moon acts as an external force that stabilizes

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<v Speaker 1>that angle. Without it, we could wobble anywhere between zero

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<v Speaker 1>degrees with no seasons and barely any sunlight to eighty

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<v Speaker 1>five degrees, where the planet would fall over on its

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<v Speaker 1>side like a kitten on a cat nip pieh Mars,

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<v Speaker 1>for example, wobbles only fifteen and thirty five degrees, and

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<v Speaker 1>it experiences drastic climate changes where ice drifts all the

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<v Speaker 1>way from its poles to its equator. Finally, Gang, I

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<v Speaker 1>don't know if you've noticed, but the moon's pretty darn

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<v Speaker 1>bright up there in the middle of the night. Sure,

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<v Speaker 1>the sun is four hundred thousand times brighter, but sometimes

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<v Speaker 1>it still hits your eye, you know, like like like

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<v Speaker 1>a big pizza pie, which means that without it, our

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<v Speaker 1>knights would be a lot darker than we're used to. Try.

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<v Speaker 1>Stumbling around in the woods without a moon and see

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<v Speaker 1>how you like it. Check out the brain stuff channel

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<v Speaker 1>on YouTube, and for more on this and thousands of

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<v Speaker 1>other topics, visit how stuff works dot com.