Upcoming Shift in Lunar Cycle May Cause Major Flooding
A shift in the moon’s orbit may lead to massive flooding in the future. What’s really going on with the moon’s upcoming wobble?
In a new report from the NASA Sea Level Change Science Team at the University of Hawaii, scientists warn that an upcoming natural phenomenon in the moon’s orbit, combined with rising sea levels, could cause record flooding along coastal regions. NASA administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement, “[l]ow lying areas near sea level are increasingly at risk and suffering due to the increased flooding and it will only get worse.”
The moon affects tides on Earth every day, so why is the cause for alarm now?
Astronomer and Gaia News contributor Marc Dantonio said, “Every 18.6 years, the moon reaches a point where it’s the highest in its declination, and that’s the point where it’s going to also be above the Earth’s equator. When the moon is actually also at a point where it’s closest to the Earth because of the elliptical orbit, if all those things correspond and combine to be at one point like this, then that’s where the researchers at the University of Hawaii says that we’re looking at potential flooding.”
Watch more:
About the Author
What's Sending These Mystery Signals From 4,000 Lightyears Away?
A mysterious repeating radio signal from space has been detected that scientists have not seen before. What or who is sending this signal?
Scientists have detected a radio signal from somewhere out in deep space some 4,000 light-years away.
The signal pulsed every 18 minutes and 18 seconds, for 30 to 60 seconds — every time, 18 minutes and 18 seconds. It did this for three months then it stopped. Scientists assume it is a naturally occurring rotating object that, like a lighthouse shining its beacon, will send what appears to be a repeating signal.
But Natasha Hurley-Walker, whose study into this repeating signal was recently published in the journal Nature told Vice, “[T]here are no models that produce such bright radio emission from two objects in orbit with each other, with such precision, and any that would produce any kind of radio waves would also produce X-ray emission, which we don’t see.”
Some think this might be coming from a highly magnetized star called a magnetar. So what does this all mean? Astronomer and Gaia News contributor Marc D’Antonio weighed in on the subject.
“Maybe this strange signal is some weird kind of magnetar that is rotating, but we’re not used to seeing it rotate every 18 minutes, that means a rather slow rotation. So, this is kind of weird, it’s something that doesn’t match any model that we know, and I think it takes us down a new research path to try to figure out just what it is we’re looking at,” D’Antonio said.
