What Happens if the Moon Crashes into Earth?

Summary

This thought-provoking scenario explores the question: what if the Moon crashes into Earth? It explains how the Moon stays in orbit due to its sideways motion and what would happen if its orbit decays. Over the course of a year, tides would rise catastrophically, causing widespread destruction, displacing billions, and triggering volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. Eventually, the Moon would reach the Roche limit, disintegrating into a ring around Earth, ending the apocalyptic turmoil but leaving behind new challenges for any survivors.

Takeaways

• 🌕 The Moon orbits the Earth due to its sideways speed, preventing it from crashing into us.
• 🌍 Gravity pulls the Moon towards Earth, but its high speed causes it to fall sideways, maintaining a stable orbit.
• 🚀 Altering the Moon's speed would change its orbit, but this requires an enormous force.
• 🧙‍♂️ In the scenario, magic is used to slow the Moon's orbit, causing it to spiral towards Earth over a year.
• 🌊 Month 1: As the Moon moves closer, tides rise, causing coastal flooding.
• 🏙️ Month 2: Massive 10-meter tides displace billions of people and disrupt global infrastructure.
• 📡 Month 3: Satellites become unstable due to the Moon's proximity, disrupting global communication.
• 🌋 Months 4-5: Earth experiences massive earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and severe environmental damage due to the Moon's gravitational forces.
• 🌖 Months 6-7: The Moon appears stationary in the sky, while tides freeze and Earth experiences intensified earthquakes and volcanic activity.
• 💥 Month 12: The Moon reaches the Roche limit, disintegrates into a ring around Earth, ending the apocalyptic events but possibly causing new climate changes.

Q & A

Why isn't the moon already crashing into Earth?

The moon stays in orbit due to its sideways motion (or velocity), which balances Earth's gravitational pull. This sideways motion causes the moon to 'fall' around Earth rather than straight toward it, allowing it to orbit rather than crash.

What would happen if the moon's orbit was slowed down?

If the moon’s orbit was slowed down significantly, it would begin spiraling toward Earth due to the unbalanced gravitational pull, eventually leading to a collision.

How would the moon crashing into Earth affect ocean tides?

As the moon moves closer, tides would become drastically higher. Initially, this would result in daily flooding of coastal cities, but over time, tides could rise as high as 100 meters, submerging vast areas of land.

What impact would the moon's approach have on global infrastructure?

As the tides increase, coastal infrastructure such as ports, oil refineries, and internet cables would be destroyed. This would lead to global disruptions in shipping, communications, and energy supplies, causing societal collapse.

What effect would the moon's proximity have on earthquakes and volcanoes?

The gravitational forces exerted by the moon would squeeze the Earth's crust, leading to intense earthquakes and triggering volcanic eruptions. This would cause widespread destruction and alter the global climate.

How would the moon’s presence affect satellites as it nears Earth?

As the moon gets closer, its gravitational pull would disturb the orbits of communication and navigation satellites, causing them to malfunction or fall out of orbit, disrupting global communication systems.

What is the Roche limit and how does it affect the moon?

The Roche limit is the distance where Earth's gravity becomes stronger than the moon’s self-gravity, causing the moon to break apart. When the moon reaches this point, it would disintegrate into debris, forming a ring system around Earth.

How would life on Earth be impacted after the moon disintegrates?

While the moon’s disintegration would end the severe tidal effects, the resulting debris could cause intense meteor showers and block sunlight, potentially leading to global cooling or even boiling oceans, depending on the amount of moondust entering the atmosphere.

What would the sky look like after the moon disintegrates?

After the moon disintegrates, Earth would be surrounded by a beautiful ring system similar to Saturn's. These rings would illuminate the night sky and create spectacular meteor showers as moondust falls to Earth.

Could humans survive after the moon crashes into Earth?

Survival would be extremely difficult due to the widespread destruction, climate changes, and natural disasters caused by the moon’s approach. However, some humans may survive in bunkers, submarines, or on high mountains, though rebuilding civilization would be a major challenge.

Outlines

00:00

🌕 The Moon's Orbit and Why It Doesn't Crash into Earth

The Moon stays in orbit around the Earth due to its sideways motion, not because of a counteracting force to gravity. In essence, it is constantly falling towards Earth but moving fast enough sideways (3600 km/h) that it stays in orbit. To cause the Moon to crash into Earth, a massive change in its speed would be needed, something only possible by a magical intervention, which slows it down enough to spiral towards the planet over the course of a year.

05:01

🌊 Month 1: Rising Tides and Subtle Changes

During the first month, the Moon's slow descent towards Earth begins to influence tides. At first, changes are barely noticeable, with scientists confused by slight increases in brightness. However, by the end of the month, tides have risen to 4 meters, flooding coastal cities as the Moon's gravitational pull strengthens.

10:05

🏙️ Month 2: Global Chaos as Tides Devastate Coastal Cities

By month two, the Moon is two-thirds closer to Earth, and tides exceed 10 meters, displacing billions of coastal inhabitants. Global infrastructure collapses as ports shut down, shipping grinds to a halt, and communications falter due to submerged oceanic cables. Inland areas are not spared either, with rivers flowing backward and saltwater contaminating water supplies, creating chaos in cities during the fleeting low tides.

🛰️ Months 3 - 5: Satellite Disruption and Catastrophic Tidal Waves

In the third month, the Moon's proximity disrupts communication and navigation satellites, causing them to lose control. By months four and five, tides swell to heights of 30 meters, eventually reaching 100 meters. Coastal areas are devastated by massive walls of water, while the Earth's crust starts to buckle under immense pressure from the gravitational forces, triggering severe earthquakes and volcanic eruptions across the globe.

🌋 Month 6 - 7: Unprecedented Earthquakes and Volcanic Eruptions

At the six-month mark, the Moon enters a geosynchronous orbit, remaining fixed in the sky for half of the Earth. The extreme gravitational forces cause devastating tides, which pause as the Moon's position stabilizes. However, the Earth experiences massive earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, severely altering the planet's climate. The Moon begins to stretch into an egg shape due to Earth's gravitational pull, leading to deep moonquakes.

🌑 Month 8 - 11: A Dark, Volcanic Winter

By months eight through eleven, the apocalypse is in full swing. Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions dominate, and the Moon’s rapid orbit causes tides to reverse. Volcanic aerosols fill the atmosphere, blocking sunlight and causing rapid cooling. The Moon, now deformed, draws closer to Earth, leaving a planet engulfed in darkness and snow. Civilization collapses, with billions dead and a bleak future ahead.

💥 Month 12: The Moon’s Disintegration and Earth’s New Ring System

In the final month, the Moon reaches the Roche limit and disintegrates into a ring system around Earth. The tides recede, and the remaining survivors witness beautiful, illuminated rings in the sky. However, the future remains uncertain, as the falling moondust might either boil the oceans or cause a global freeze, leaving humanity's survival in doubt.

🔄 The Aftermath: A New Beginning Amidst Beautiful Rings

After the Moon’s disintegration, any remaining survivors emerge from shelters or high places. They attempt to rebuild civilization, but with no guarantees of success. Despite the hardships, they now live under a stunning sky filled with glittering rings that illuminate the Earth far more than the Moon ever did.

Keywords

💡Orbit

An orbit refers to the curved path an object takes around a larger body due to gravitational forces. In the video, the Moon orbits Earth because of its sideways velocity, preventing it from crashing into Earth. The Moon's stable orbit is central to the narrative, explaining why it stays in place unless acted upon by an outside force.

💡Tides

Tides are the regular rising and falling of sea levels caused by the gravitational pull between Earth and the Moon. As the Moon gets closer to Earth in the scenario described, tides become more extreme, flooding coastal cities and affecting global infrastructure. This concept highlights the Moon's influence on Earth even before any catastrophic impact.

💡Roche Limit

The Roche Limit is the distance within which a celestial body, due to tidal forces, will disintegrate because the gravity of the planet it orbits is stronger than the body's own gravitational cohesion. In the video, the Moon reaches the Roche Limit near the end of its descent, leading to its disintegration into rubble and the formation of a ring around Earth.

💡Geosynchronous Satellites

Geosynchronous satellites are satellites that orbit Earth at the same speed as Earth's rotation, appearing stationary relative to the planet. The video mentions that as the Moon approaches, it passes through the orbit of these satellites, disrupting their functionality due to its increasing gravitational pull.

💡Gravitational Forces

Gravitational forces are the invisible pull objects exert on each other due to their mass. The entire narrative is based on the interaction of Earth's gravity with the Moon. The Moon's orbit and eventual crash into Earth are dictated by changes in gravitational forces as the Moon's speed is altered.

💡Volcanism

Volcanism refers to the eruption of magma from beneath the Earth's crust. The video explains that as the Moon gets closer, the gravitational stress it exerts on Earth triggers massive volcanic eruptions, contributing to widespread climate changes and making the apocalyptic scenario even more devastating.

💡Runaway Cooling

Runaway cooling is a process where the Earth's surface temperature drops drastically, potentially leading to widespread freezing. In the video, this phenomenon is linked to the cooling effects of volcanic aerosols and the reduced sunlight caused by the Moon's destruction, which could trigger a new ice age.

💡Tidal Bores

Tidal bores are waves caused when ocean tides surge into rivers or narrow bays, reversing the river's flow. As the Moon draws closer, the video describes how tidal bores contaminate freshwater sources with saltwater, worsening the apocalyptic conditions by affecting drinking water supplies.

💡Magic Spell

In the video, a magic spell is a hypothetical and humorous method proposed to slow down the Moon enough for it to crash into Earth. The use of 'magic' reflects the impossibility of such an event occurring naturally due to the immense forces needed to change the Moon's orbit.

💡Earthquakes

Earthquakes are the shaking of the Earth's surface caused by the movement of tectonic plates. The video suggests that as the Moon gets closer, tidal forces not only affect the oceans but also exert pressure on Earth's tectonic plates, leading to increasingly severe earthquakes, further contributing to the planet's destruction.

Highlights

What if the Moon crashes into Earth? Analyzing the scientific implications of this hypothetical scenario.

The Moon stays in orbit due to its sideways motion, despite Earth's gravity pulling on it.

Orbits can be seen in everyday life, like when a ball is thrown. The difference is speed, as the Moon moves fast enough to orbit continuously.

To crash the Moon into Earth, we need to slow it down significantly, changing its orbit.

Even igniting billions of rocket engines on the Moon's surface would barely move it due to its mass.

A magical spell is used to slow the Moon down, setting the stage for its collision with Earth in one year.

By the end of the first month, ocean tides rise to 4 meters due to the Moon’s closer proximity.

By month two, coastal cities face severe flooding as tides exceed 10 meters, displacing millions.

Global infrastructure collapses as shipping halts and ocean-crossing cables are disrupted by the rising tides.

As the Moon draws closer, its gravity starts warping satellite orbits, causing widespread communication failures.

By months 4 and 5, tides reach up to 100 meters, exposing continental shelves and causing earthquakes.

Tectonic plates experience immense pressure, triggering volcanoes and large-scale seismic activity.

At month 6, the Moon enters the space of geosynchronous satellites, seemingly 'fixed' in the sky.

As the Moon approaches, it stretches due to Earth's gravity, causing lunar quakes and distorting its shape.

At the Roche limit in month 12, the Moon disintegrates into a ring system, ending the apocalyptic scenario on Earth.

Transcripts

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 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 that 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 world and come back to you.  

If there was 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 3600 km/h. 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  orbit, 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 one year before  it hits earth. Ready? 3. 2. 1. *Magic

Month 1

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 fluctuates,  

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 meters. Everyday high tide  comes and waves flood coastal cities.  

And there is 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 2

By the end of month 2 the moon has covered  two-thirds of the distance to earth,  

and global infrastructure is crumbling as  tides rise above ten meters – 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 Kurzgesagt 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 inland  

doesn’t guarantee safety either, tidal  bores cause rivers to flow backwards,  

carrying saltwater to contaminate  surface and groundwater supplies.

Gas shortages follow, as oil 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 reigns during the  scavenging hours of low tide,  

while survivors take refuge in  highrises when the water returns.

Month 3

Three months in and the moon is  close enough to disrupt communication  

and navigation satellites. While it is 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 careen out of control.

Month 4 - 5 On earth, the tides are  

rapidly growing to about 30 meters 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 five months in, the  apocalypse has finished its warm-up act.

Since the oceans are on average only 3 kilometers  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 really  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 quintillions of tons  of water sloshing on and off the tectonic plates,  

creates enormous stresses below and begins to  cause earthquakes of increasing magnitude and  

intensity. It’s impossible 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.

Month 6 - 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 tides seem 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 Earth’s, pulling you 

up and ending your misery? Fortunately not.  

The earth’s surface gravity is about  6 times stronger than the moon’s,  

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.

Month 8 - 11

At this point the apocalypse has arrived and  we can summarize the months before the crash  

as “everybody left has a really 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 aerosols 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 hardiest plants.The clock runs out  on civilization. Billions have perished  

while an egg-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 Roche 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 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 sunlight, illuminating  the night sky more brilliantly than any  

full moon ever could, while meteor  showers of moondust fill the sky.

It’s hard to say what happens next,  but the tranquility may be short-lived.  

If too much moondust 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  that 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 will  try to do so with beautiful rings in the sky.