Moon Wobble is Unlikely to Cause Apocalyptic Flooding
The Claim
NASA predicts that a shift in the tides caused by irregularities in the moon’s orbit will lead to cataclysmic flooding on the coastline.
News posted on
Emerging story
This week, news outlets have been publishing articles stating that NASA is warning of impending cataclysmic floods caused by “moon wobbles” in the 2030s.
Social media users responded as they often do: with jokes.
Misbar’s Analysis
The moon’s orbit isn’t perfectly circular. As a result, sometimes the moon gets closer to the planet than expected. When this happens, it affects up the tides. This is a slow process colloquially called “moon wobbles.”
News outlets reporting on the impending 2030s moon wobble appear to have oversimplified the matter. The news articles refer to a study published by NASA – not an official NASA statement.
The study doesn’t claim that the moon wobble alone will cause violent flooding. Rather, the irregularities in its orbit may contribute to an already severe amount of flooding due to climate change. It is true, however, that coastal cities are going to face a sharp increase in flooding. As the study states, it will likely be a prolonged increase in floods that will slowly but surely hit coastal regions.
