What if the moon disappeared?
One night the Moon is simply gone. The tides shrink and the nights get much darker. The word “month” loses its picture.
People stare at the place where it used to be.
Day 1
The night is much blacker than usual. People stand in the street looking at the empty place in the sky. Torches come out. By morning, the sea hasn’t come as far up the beach as it should have.
Scientists explain on the radio what has happened. Nobody can explain how to fix it.
Year 1
Tides are now driven only by the Sun, so they are about a third of their old size. Ports redraw their charts, and fishing towns change their working hours. Nights in the countryside are darker than anyone alive has seen.
Children ask why calendars still talk about “moons”.
Year 10
Some harbours are now too shallow for the old boats, and coastal work has changed. Nocturnal animals that hunted by moonlight have had a hard decade.
People still glance up at night out of habit. There is nothing there.
Who wins
- AstronomersEvery night is perfect for seeing faint stars.
- Torch and lamp makersDarker nights are good for business.
- Anyone who loves a dark skyThe countryside gets its real night back.
Who loses
- Fishing townsThe water no longer keeps its old timetable.
- Coastal wildlifeRock pools and tidal flats shrink or disappear.
Losing the Moon wouldn’t only mean darker evenings. Tides would shrink, and over very long periods Earth’s tilt, which gives us stable seasons, could start to wobble. The empty sky would be the part people noticed first, not the part that mattered most.
Would you live here?
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