What could happen if 50% of the moon was destroyed.
What could happen if 50% of the moon was destroyed: If 70 percent of the moon was destroyed, the mass of the moon would be reduced by 70 percent, leaving the moon with only 30 percent of its original mass, thus the moon’s distance from the earth would reduce.
Consider the distance from the earth to the moon to be approximately 384,400,000 meters, the distance after 70 percent reduction of the moon would be about 210,651,200 meters.
If 70 percent of the moon was destroyed, the moon would move closer to the earth and would orbit at a faster rate.
The moon being lighter, it will be smaller in size, thus some of the effects it has on earth would be lost, like there would be small tides, this would alter ecosystems, especially in the Coastal regions destroying many of them due to disruption of energy, minerals, and water flow. Many organisms such as crabs depend on the coming and going of tides. These organisms in turn feed birds and land animals. Tides also drive ocean currents which in turn control weather patterns. Without them, there would be regional high temperatures. Moon’s gravitational force also moves helps in the movement of molecules in the atmosphere. Not forgetting a smaller moon means less light at night. The nights would get darker.
If the moon was destroyed the rotation of the earth provides energy to the moon which in turn slows down the planet. In other words, days become longer. With 30 percent of the moon remaining, meaning the days would become shorter with time.
Eclipse might not occur since there wouldn’t be at the right distance for its diameter to block out the sun during a total solar eclipse.
However, it all depends on how it was destroyed. If it were blown up, large fragments of the moon would come crashing down to the earth’s surface. It may wipe out some continents from the earth. If the moon was destroyed the earth would also be affected by a great asteroid attack from the many asteroids orbiting the solar system. The many craters in the moon are attributed to stopping stray steroids that would otherwise strike our planet.
For 4.5 billion years, our star has grown used to the effect of the moon’s gravitational force. A rapid change in the diameter of the moon would cause massive volcanic activity and earthquakes that would be dreadful for our planet. Due to a massive change in the composition of the earth’s core because of gravity.
If the moon was destroyed the earth would shift at its axis at 45° (degrees) due to the minimal effect of the moon’s gravitational force on the earth. This would result in the earth’s axis changing making the earth experience radical environmental changes, like the ice ages which would occur in a few years of the moon’s partial destruction.
The effect of the moon’s partial destruction would be detrimental to our star, and might even lead the planet lifeless like mars, which is suspected to have lost life a few billions of years ago.
