The moon rises almost every night in the earth's sky. She has already become an element of our culture: it is present on the canvases of great painters, inspired more than one poet to create a poetic masterpiece. And few people know that the usual satellite of the Earth is a mortal danger to our planet.
Asteroids bringing death
Every year, the Internet explodes another message about the approach of an asteroid to Earth, posing a mortal danger to our planet. In 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2011 we were frightened by the inevitable apocalypse. Human civilization is alive, but we are "reassured": not all is lost and new dates for the end of the world are appointed.
Astronomers, while not denying the likelihood of a collision of the Earth with an asteroid, do not believe that the "meeting" will certainly become the end of our civilization and humanity as a whole. The earth had already experienced such collisions and survived. 2.5 million years ago between Antarctica and South America, a 4-kilometer asteroid fell. An asteroid winter did not happen, none of the species of living beings disappeared. A giant wave hit the coasts, but for the planet the fall of the asteroid was not a disaster.
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We are not afraid of that
If this happens again, our civilization will not survive its best days, but it will undoubtedly survive. It will be much more frightening if the asteroid passes the Earth and collides with the Moon. In this case, the consequences will be truly catastrophic.
More than one hundred asteroids have already fallen into the Earth's gravitational field, but most of them burn up in the atmosphere and if something falls to the Earth, it is no longer capable of causing a cataclysm. But the Moon has no atmosphere, so its surface is covered with crater pockmarks. A 25-centimeter asteroid that fell on the moon in May 2006 left a crater 14 in diameter and 3 meters deep on the surface. What happens if a larger body crashes into the moon?
We read and are horrified
The Moon's orbit will change. This means that the ebb and flow cycles will be disrupted. The movement of lithospheric plates will increase, which will cause the strongest earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions. Moreover, these cataclysms will become permanent.
Hundreds of thousands of fragments of the crashed meteorite will fly to Earth, and not all of them will burn up in the earth's atmosphere. The bombardment will continue for several weeks. If thousands of burning meteorites fall not into the sea or in the desert, but on some metropolis, then … In general, there will be one less city on Earth.
As a result of the impact, a huge amount of moon dust will rise, which will block the Earth from the Sun. Then the earthlings will learn what real long, harsh winters are. Summer will be short and cold, causing a food crisis. Peasant labor will again become prestigious and very profitable.
If, however, a sufficiently large asteroid capable of destroying it collides with the Moon, it will indeed become a disaster, both for the Moon and for the Earth, and for human civilization - death.
Planet Ocean?
When asked if there is water on the Moon, astronomers confidently answer "yes". There is, and its reserves are huge. Only in the region of the North Pole, according to astronomers' calculations, it is not less than 600 million tons in the form of ice. There are glaciers at the moon's south pole. On the surface under the rock layer, the thickness of the ice can reach 2 meters. In the event of the destruction of the Moon, giant ice blocks will fly towards the Earth. Small ones will burn up in space, and large ones will fly to the lower atmosphere and begin to melt.
The melting process will take tens and hundreds of years. All this time, endless precipitation in the form of rain and snow will fall on the Earth. In just the first year, the World Ocean will rise by 20 meters - in Europe, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, London and several dozen large and small coastal cities will go under water.
In Asia, Bangkok, Jakarta, Shanghai, Tokyo, in America - New Orleans, New York, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro will hide under water. In Russia, the victims will be St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Arkhangelsk. And the water level will all rise.
In 30 years, the waters will flood the streets of Madrid, which is today at an altitude of 667 meters above sea level. After 112 years, Mexico City will disappear under the water (2240 m. Above sea level), after 182 - La Paz (3593 m). After 320 years, the waves will sweep over the summit of Everest (8848m) and the Earth will finally turn into the planet Ocean.
Today mankind spends millions and billions of dollars, euros, rubles and yuan to create all kinds of weapons. Will all these tanks, guns and planes help when a "gift" arrives from the depths of space? If anything comes in handy then, it is only submarines and ships, but there is clearly not enough space for all.
Author Klim Podkova