Moon is moving away from Earth and it comes with DEADLY consequences
The Earth and the Moon have been companions for a long, long time. But that wasn't always the case. According to the giant impact theory, around 4.5 billion years ago, a small planet slammed into the young Earth, resulting in our planet ejecting a lot of debris into orbit around the Earth, which slowly coalesced into the Moon. And amazingly, it turns out that after such a long term companionship, the Moon might not be with the Earth forever either. Yes, the terrifying fact is that the Moon is drifting away from the Earth. And if that happens, life on Earth might collapse entirely. Read on to know why the Moon is drifting away and how that can impact us.
The Moon is drifting away from the Earth at the speed of 3.8 centimeters a year. We first found out about it in 1969 during the NASA Apollo missions when some scientists noticed something strange about the reflective panels installed on the Moon. And thus, it was revealed that the Moon was indeed moving away. Later studies have given us conclusive evidence that this is not a recent phenomenon and has always been the case.
The reason the Moon rotates around the Earth is because it has been pulled by our planet's strong gravitational force. But at the same time, the Moon itself pulls the Earth due to its own gravitational field. Because of this pull by the Moon, the tidal waves rise, and the Moon gets a kick-back effect, similar to the recoil of a gun. This is the reason the Moon is drifting away.
One of the biggest and most immediate effects of the Moon drifting away from the Earth is that the length of the day will get longer. The Moon, due to its gravitational effect, makes the Earth spin fast. According to a report by The Conversation, 2.45 billion years ago, the length of
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