What Happens if the Moon Crashes into Earth?

today we are answering an age-old very scientific and important question what if the moon crashes into Earth it's more interesting and weird than you probably think let's start with the basics why isn't the moon on its way to crash into us [Music] already we know that Earth's gravity pulls everything towards it including the moon but somehow it stays up as if suspended by some opposite Force but there is no other Force countering gravity instead the trick to staying up is a sideways motion that we call an orbit you see orbits every day when you throw

a ball it makes a tiny little orbit the only difference between the ball's orbit and the moon's is that the ball eventually hits the ground basically the reason is speed if you could throw your ball fast enough it would bend around the the world and come back to you if there were no air slowing it down it could orbit forever and this is what the moon does falling sideways around Earth very fast with no air slowing it down orbiting Earth every 27 days at 3,600 km an hour so for the moon to just stop in

its orbit and plummet to the Earth would break more laws of physics than we have time to explain so how do we crash it into Earth in a nutshell to change an object's or it you need to change its speed which changes where gravity takes it but even small changes require enormous forces which is why all the large objects in the solar system are so stable nowadays according to science the moon is big and very massive even igniting billions of Rocket engines all over its surface would barely move the Moon it looks like nothing short

of magic will make the moon fall so we'll use a magic spell that slows down the moon so much that it changes its orbit and spirals towards Earth to get the most from the experience the moon will take exactly 1 year before it hits Earth ready 3 2 1 magic month one for the first few days nothing really changes the moon gets a tiny bit brighter and scientists get confused but the rest of us don't notice anything different the only noticeable real effect of the moon on the Earth are the tides Tides exist because while

Earth pulls on the moon the moon's gravity pulls back on the earth since the strength of gravity gets weaker with distance different parts of the earth feel a slightly different pull which causes the Earth especially the oceans to bulge when the moon is above them and contract a little on the sides when it's not as Earth rotates every day underneath the moon the moon's influence fluctuat causing the water level of the oceans to Rise and Fall by about half a meter twice a day but with the moon drawing ever closer high tide gets higher every

day at first barely noticeable within a month the moon has covered half the distance to the Earth and ocean tides have grown to 4 M every day high tide comes and waves flood coastal cities and there's no end in sight with the moon drawing ever closer Tides rise ever higher inundating another city and more inhabited land with salty water every day month two by the end of month 2 the moon has covered 2/3 of the distance to Earth and Global infrastructure is crumbling as Tides rise above 10 m displacing up to a billion people who

happen to live near the coastlines as ports become inoperable shipping grinds to a halt not only will it slow down the delivery of quazar products but also less exciting things like food Global Communications fall into disarray 95% of the internet is carried by ocean Crossing cables and while these largely don't mind the water their terminals on land do living in land doesn't guarantee safety either tidal boards cause rivers to flow backwards carrying salt water to contaminate surface and groundwater supplies gas shortages follow as all refineries near the coast are abandoned countries are left with the

supplies they had on their shelves and strict rationing will begin in the cities chaos rains during the Scavenging hours of low tide while survivors take refuge in highrises when the water returns month three 3 months in and the Moon is close enough to disrupt communication and navigation satellites while it's normally far too distant for its gravity to cause any major problems for our satellites The Closer it gets the more warped their orbits become as their fuel for orbital Corrections Runs Out satellites coren out of control months four and five on Earth the tides are rapidly

growing to about 30 m and will be reaching 100 m in height in a few short weeks at low tide the ocean recedes hundreds of kilometers exposing the continental shelf like vast deserts while at high tide walls of water drown agriculture houses and skyscrapers and now almost 5 months in the apocalypse has finished its warmup act since the oceans are on average only 3 km deep the tides have reached their maximum up until now the water in the oceans could flow absorbing most of the moon's gravitational squeezing but now the Earth itself is ready feeling

the squeeze of the ever approaching Moon these aren't so much tides of water but tides of rock the squeezing of the planet combined with the weight of quenti of tons of water sloshing on and off the tectonic plate creates enormous stresses below and begins to cause earthquakes of increasing magnitude and intensity it's impossible ble to say how serious these earthquakes might be or where they occur but like a child jumping on their bed Until It Breaks no good can come of it strong tidal forces lead to volcanism on other planets and moons on Earth squeezing

the planet disrupts the magma reservoirs inside the crust triggering sizable climate altering eruptions in Chile New Zealand Yellowstone and elsewhere meanwhile watching patiently above is the moon still no bigger in the sky than a small Cloud within 75,000 km of Earth it is bright enough to illuminate the night sky like Twilight months 6 and 7 after half a year the Moon is entering the space once occupied by geosynchronous satellites where it orbits Earth every 24 hours it appears to float at one spot in the sky unmoving cycling through a full set of phases every day

but only visible to half the planet with the moon stationary above the Earth the tide it seemed to freeze in place half the world flooded half with its water seemingly returned to the Sea as if Earth is holding its breath to prepare for the worst as the moon sinks further you might wonder if its gravity would overpower Earths pulling you up and ending your misery fortunately not the Earth's surface gravity is about six times stronger than the moon so even if the moon were hovering right on top of you you would still stay on the

ground on the moon things are different though the near Side of the Moon is more strongly affected by Earth's gravity so during the next few months it starts to stretch forward towards the earth into something of an egg triggering deep moonquakes as the lunar Rock flexes and changes shape though barely noticeable now this squish will grow to hundreds of kilometers in a matter of months Months 8 to 11 at this point the apocalypse has arrived and we can summarize the months before the crash as everybody left has a bad time the tides sweeping over the

Earth slow down and then reverse their Direction because the moon now orbits Earth faster than it rotates the planet will experience an abundance of earthquakes and volcanism massive amounts of volcanic Aerosoles rise High into the stratosphere shiny enough to reflect sunlight back into space what little light gets through is rust red and is periodically diminished by daily eclipses the result is a rapid global cooling with acid rains and summer snows killing even the hardest plants the clock runs out on civilization billions have perished while an x-shaped moon is still drawing closer let's get ready for

the grand finale month 12 finally at the end of the year the moon has reached the rash limit that's the point where Earth's gravitational pull on the moon is stronger than the moon's own gravity things on the lunar surface start falling towards Earth and and by the time it crosses 10,000 km the entire Moon disintegrates into Rubble smearing itself into a massive ring system around the earth fortunately the moon's disintegration means the misery on Earth has ended no moon means the general apocalyptic nature of things comes to a halt the oceans recede flowing off the

land one last time any survivors are treated to a view of tremendous arches spanning the sky glimmering in the Sun light Illuminating the night sky more brilliantly than any full moon ever could while meteor showers of moond dust fill the sky it's hard to say what happens next but the Tranquility may be shortlived if too much moond dust rains down friction heats the atmosphere possibly boiling the oceans if not the enormous Shadows cast by the Rings combined with all the volcanic and meteoric aerosols block even more sunlight and a period of runaway cooling could begin

the freezes much of earth's surface solid in any case at some point people will emerge again from submarines or bunkers or mountaintops they will not have a great time before rebuilding civilization and their success is not guaranteed but at least they'll be trying to do so with beautiful rings in the sky