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As our closest neighbor, we Earth inhabitants have a certain fascination with the Moon and how it impacts our planet. Ask anyone who is into astrology and they'll tell you: it's all about the Moon.
Although much of what people believe about the way in which the Moon affects us can be dismissed as myth, in fact there are subtle ways that the Moon and its forces do affect our planet. Check out this gallery to find out how the Moon influences our weather.
Since time immemorial, we earthlings have been obsessed with the Moon. We cannot shake the feeling that our planet’s night light is linked with us in some inextricable way.
While there are many myths about the way in which the Moon influences the Earth, it does in fact impact our weather patterns in a number of subtle ways.
This is not surprising when you consider that the Moon is just a part that flew off when two ancient planets collided to form Earth all those billions of years ago.
The Moon’s most obvious impression on Earth can be seen in our planet’s tides. As the Earth goes about its daily rotation, the Moon pulls towards it the closest available ocean water.
This creates a bulge in the ocean, which is then mirrored on the other side of the world, thanks to the centrifugal force caused by the Earth’s rotation.
It is the rotation between these massive, watery bulges that gives us the high and low tides we see twice a day.
A more complex effect of the Moon on our weather involves a little thing called the lunar nodal cycle. The Moon’s orbit does not stay at the same level relative to our planet’s equator.
In fact, every 18.6 years, it moves between minus 5 and plus 5 degrees relative to the equator. Tides are much more exaggerated when the Moon’s orbit and the equator are in line.
You’re probably wondering what this all means. Of course, the lunar nodal cycle has always been with us, but it is becoming more relevant in the context of global warming.
According to NASA, rising sea levels due to climate change, combined with the position of the Moon’s orbit, will cause a serious increase in high-tide floods during the 2030s.
This increase in high-tide flooding could have serious, even devastating, consequences for coastal communities, both human and otherwise.
Speaking of high-tide flooding, one NASA researcher has said, "Now it's an inconvenience–but it's going to become hard to ignore, hard to live with."
"We may see four times the amount of flooding one decade to the next. The lunar nodal cycle affects all locations on Earth and sea levels are going up everywhere.”
On a human level, this may make it difficult for businesses in coastal areas to remain open, thus driving up unemployment and damaging the economy.
Salt marshes may also suffer, since peak lunar cycle combined with high sea levels creates a serious possibility of drowning salt marsh inhabitants, such as shrimps, crabs, and insects.
When the invertebrates of a salt marsh are drowned, the species that prey on them, including humans, inevitably suffer too.
There is another particular event that scientists believe may be affected by the lunar nodal cycle. It is referred to by experts as the “El Niño-Southern Oscillation.”
The normal state of affairs when it comes to our planet’s winds is that strong winds blow the warm surface water west from South America and cold water rises in its place.
In an El Niño event, these winds are weakened or reversed, while during a La Niña event they are exaggerated. Both events provoke more extreme weather across the globe.
Scientists believe that the switch between these two events may be driven by a subsurface ocean wave moved by the tidal gravitational force of the Moon.
Indeed, researchers at the University of Tokyo believe we may be able to predict the switch by looking at the Moon’s 18.6 year nodal cycle.
This may help us to better predict when extreme weather events are likely to occur, and thus enable us to prepare for them better.
Scientists also believe the Moon affects polar temperatures, although not because of its nodal cycle but because of the different amount of light reflected when it waxes and wanes.
Research shows that the poles are 0.55°C (32.99°F) warming during a full Moon. Tidal forces can also break up ice sheets and change ocean heat flows, affecting levels of Arctic ice.
According to one expert at the National Oceanography Centre, the Moon creates currents and waves at both the surface of the ocean and deeper below.
"These currents and waves may either melt or break up sea ice, due to either the transport and mixing of warmer waters or due to straining motions acting to tear apart the ice into smaller pieces, which are then more susceptible to melting."
Finally, we cannot forget that the Earth and the atmosphere experience tides, as well as the oceans, and the Moon has an impact on all.
Earth tides are not unlike ocean tides: the Earth bulges with the pull of the Moon and this is thought to trigger volcanic activity and earthquakes.
With atmospheric tides, energy flows from the upper to the lower atmosphere, changing atmospheric pressure and impacting precipitation.
Sources: (BBC)
See also: Our new home? What we've learned about the Moon since 1969
How the Moon influences our weather
Separating fact from fiction
LIFESTYLE Curiosities
As our closest neighbor, we Earth inhabitants have a certain fascination with the Moon and how it impacts our planet. Ask anyone who is into astrology and they'll tell you: it's all about the Moon.
Although much of what people believe about the way in which the Moon affects us can be dismissed as myth, in fact there are subtle ways that the Moon and its forces do affect our planet. Check out this gallery to find out how the Moon influences our weather.