The Moon Wobble is a regular wiggling of the moon’s orbit that was first noticed in 1728. It takes more than 18.6 years for one complete wobble cycle. This wobble affects the moon’s gravitational pull, which then has an indirect impact on the ebb and flow of tides on Earth. A recent study by NASA found that each wobble cycle can both increase and decrease the strength of Earth’s tides.

 What is Moon Wobble?

• It is a regular oscillation that humans have known about for centuries.
• It is one of many factors that can either exacerbate rising sea levels or counteract them, alongside other variables like weather and geography.
• It was first documented way back in 1728.
• The wobble takes over an 18.6-year period to complete and continues in a cyclic fashion.

Key Point

• The goal of the research was to figure out all the different factors affecting flood predictions in order to better understand future flooding.
• It turns out that it’s not just global warming causing more floods – there are many other factors at play, like the various things influencing ocean levels.
• The study specifically mentioned a wobbling motion that will lead to higher tides around the 2030s. However, they also pointed out that this won’t affect all coastlines in the same way. Some places might be more or less affected than others.

Cause

• The moon has a big role in causing high tides on our beaches. Its gravity pulls on the spinning Earth, creating two high tides every day.
• The moon goes around the Earth once a month, but its orbit is a bit tilted.
• Over time, the path of the moon’s orbit changes, completing a full cycle every 18.6 years (called a nodal cycle).During certain points in this cycle, the moon’s gravitational pull comes at an angle that makes one of the day’s high tides a bit higher, affecting the other tide.
• This doesn’t mean the moon is wobbling or pulling more or less on our oceans. It’s just the way its orbit aligns.
• High tide flooding linked to climate change is expected to set new records more frequently in the next decade.

Impact of Moon Wobble

• Sometimes, the tides at the beach can go up and down by just 1 or 2 inches during a long cycle. This happens because of the moon’s movements.
• In the first part of this moon cycle, the usual daily tides on Earth are not as strong. High tides are lower than usual, and low tides are higher.
• But in the second part of the cycle, things flip. Now, high tides get even higher, and low tides become even lower.
• This happens because the moon has a little wobble that affects how strong its gravitational pull is on Earth.
• This wobble indirectly messes with the ebb and flow of our tides.
• Around 2030, the moon’s cycle is going to change again. In the next phase, the tides will start getting stronger once more.

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