{"id":2000104046,"date":"2026-03-03T15:57:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T13:57:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/?p=2000104046"},"modified":"2026-03-03T15:57:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T13:57:16","slug":"the-moon-is-shrinking-scientists-explain-what-it-means-for-earth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/the-moon-is-shrinking-scientists-explain-what-it-means-for-earth\/","title":{"rendered":"The moon is shrinking: scientists explain what it means for Earth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As the Moon\u2019s core cools, it pulls its surface inward, much like a grape shrivelling into a raisin. This creates wrinkled, cliff-like ridges known as lobate scarps, formed when the brittle crust is pushed and crumpled from below. These features are a clear sign that, despite lacking the tectonic plate activity found on Earth, the Moon is not geologically dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is not to alarm anyone,\u201d says Dr. Thomas R. Watters, a senior scientist emeritus at the Smithsonian and a lead researcher on the study. \u201cBut it is to raise the caution that the Moon is not this benign place where nothing is happening.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The phenomenon is not entirely new; Watters first demonstrated in 2010 that the Moon has been shrinking for millions of years. However, recent data suggests many of these features are geologically young, meaning the Moon remains tectonically active. This activity is a significant concern for future space missions, as shallow moonquakes could impact landing sites and potential lunar bases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnlike earthquakes, which last for tens of seconds, these moonquakes can last for hours,\u201d explains planetary scientist Dr. James O\u2019Donoghue. Such tremors could be “sufficient to potentially knock over any astronaut infrastructure.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What if the moon disappeared?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While the Moon is not going anywhere, scientists often use the “disappearing Moon” scenario to highlight its importance to our survival. The Moon acts as a gravitational anchor, stabilising our planet\u2019s tilt and driving the tides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without it, Earth\u2019s axis could wobble uncontrollably. \u201cEverything we know about the seasons would be completely out of whack,\u201d notes astrophysicist Paul Sutter. \u201cSome places on the planet would hardly ever see the sun at all, and at others, the sun would be overhead for months on end.\u201d These shifts would disrupt marine life, weather patterns, and the predictable climate that allowed human civilisation to thrive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea of a \u201cdisappearing Moon\u201d even has a place in history. Records from England in 1110 describe the Moon vanishing from the night sky entirely. Scientists later determined that a massive volcanic eruption had filled the atmosphere with sulfur-rich particles, temporarily blocking its light and creating the haunting illusion that it had vanished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even as it shrinks by a few hundred feet over millions of years, the Moon remains a critical stabiliser for Earth. Studying these lunar “wrinkles” does more than just reveal the Moon’s history; it helps us understand the delicate celestial balance that sustains life on our own planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Researchers at the National Air and Space Museum\u2019s Centre for Earth and Planetary Studies have confirmed that the Moon is gradually contracting.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Researchers at the National Air and Space Museum\u2019s Centre for Earth and Planetary Studies have confirmed that the Moon is gradually contracting as its interior cools. While it is far from vanishing, this slow shrinkage has real implications for our understanding of the Moon\u2019s stability and its long-term relationship with life on Earth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000104047,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[151],"byline":[192],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000104046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science-technology","tag-editors-choice","byline-wycliffe-nyamasege"],"bylines":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"contributors":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":131}],"featured_image":{"id":2000104047,"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/shutterstock_1454730908.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":1000,"height":667,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/shutterstock_1454730908.jpg","width":150,"height":100},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/shutterstock_1454730908.jpg","width":300,"height":200},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/shutterstock_1454730908.jpg","width":768,"height":512},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/shutterstock_1454730908.jpg","width":1000,"height":667},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/shutterstock_1454730908.jpg","width":1000,"height":667}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000104046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000104046"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000104046\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000104049,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000104046\/revisions\/2000104049"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000104047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000104046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000104046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000104046"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000104046"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000104046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}