(upbeat music)
- Oh hey there Brain Stuff, I'm Lauren,
and it's time we had
a talk about the Moon.
We think that about 4.5 billion years ago
something the size of
Mars crashed into Earth
and ricocheted into
space to form the Moon.
It even took some of
Earth's mantle with it,
so there's ancient chunks
of our planet merged
with space stuff up there
just hanging out in orbit.
But even with all that,
I'm not sure the Moon
gets all the credit it deserves.
If it wasn't there, things
would be a lot different
here on our little blue planet.
First, we'd see some pretty
drastic changes to the ocean.
The Moon is responsible
for most of the effects
of the tides.
Without it, tides would
only be a third of the size
that they are now.
This is because the Sun would account
for the major gravitational
pull affecting the altitude
of the ocean.
And while the Sun is bigger than the Moon,
like 400 times bigger,
it is also much further away.
So, the tides it creates only
have about 40% of the strength
of our current lunar tides.
Surfing wouldn't be the
only thing that suffered.
Lost of ecosystems rely
on the motion and changes
of the tides.
Plus, the Moon holds
a bulge of tidal water
around Earth's middle
that would disperse without its gravity,
changing coastlines around the world.
Did you know that the Moon helps slow down
the rotation of Earth?
Without it, we wouldn't have 24 hour days,
they'd be more like six
to eight hours long.
We'd have to remake our
calendar to accommodate
between 1,100 and 1,400 days per year.
Not only would that screw
up all of our schedules,
but a faster rotation would also increase
the amount of wind and
storms on our planet.
If that's not enough extreme
climate change for you,
no Moon would also destabilize
the Earth's access,
changing our tilt with side effects
that would render the planet inhospitable
to lots of its creatures.
Right now, we're tilted
at a lovely 23 degrees,
which gives us relatively
mild seasons and environments,
but the Moon acts as an external force
that stabilizes that angle.
Without it, we could wobble
anywhere between zero degrees
with no seasons and barely any sunlight,
to 85 degrees where the
planet would fall over
on its side like a
kitten on a catnip high.
Mars, for example, wobbles
between only 15 and 35 degrees,
and it experiences drastic climate changes
where ice drifts all the way
from the poles to the equator.
Finally gang, I don't
know if you've noticed,
but the Moon's pretty darn bright up there
in the middle of the night.
Sure, the Sun is 400
thousand times brighter,
but sometimes it still hits
your eye like well, you know.
Which means that without it,
our nights would be a lot
darker than we're used to.
You try stumbling around
in the woods without a Moon
and see how you like it.
Now what you know the
major ways not having
a Moon would effect us, it
kind of gives a new meaning
to the children's story
Goodnight Moon, doesn't it?
So, what's your favorite
thing about the Moon?
Type your lunar nerdery in
the comments below, and hey,
while you're there, you should
subscribe to our channel.
Why, because science.
