Floods in the United States and other parts of the world as well as high tides or "nuisance floods" are attributed to global climate change. Now, a new study has linked these extreme weather events to the moon.
The study, conducted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), says that a 'wobble' in Moon's orbit combined with rising sea levels due to climate change will devastate Earth's devastating floods. The study was published in the journal Nature Climate Change on June 21.
The study warns that these extra flood days won't be spread out evenly over the year, but are likely to cluster together over the span of just a few months; coastal areas in the US that now face just two or three floods a month may soon face a dozen or more, Livescience reported.
These prolonged coastal flood seasons will cause major disruptions to lives and livelihoods if communities don't start planning for them now, the researchers cautioned.
"It's the accumulated effect over time that will have an impact," lead study author Phil Thompson, an assistant professor at the University of Hawaii, said in a statement. "If it floods 10 or 15 times a month, a business can't keep operating with its parking lot under water. People lose their jobs because they can't get to work. Seeping cesspools become a public health issue."
“Low-lying areas near sea level are increasingly at risk and suffering due to the increased flooding, and it will only get worse,” said Nasa administrator Bill Nelson. “The combination of the Moon’s gravitational pull, rising sea levels, and climate change will continue to exacerbate coastal flooding on our coastlines and across the world."
Talking about the impact of the Moon on the flooding on Earth, Thompson said that the wobble in the Moon's orbit takes 18.6 years to complete. While the wobble has always been there, what makes it dangerous is that it will combine with the rising sea levels due to the planet's warming, said Thompson.
In half of these 18.6 years, the Earth's regular tides are suppressed: high tides are lower than normal and low tides higher than normal. In the other half, the effect is reversed, which is called the tide-amplifying phase of the Moon. According to Thompson, the next time this cycle is expected in 2030s, which will severely affect normal life, especially in coastal areas.