This ‘big splash’ theory would explain why the Moon’s rocks are similar to those on Earth.īonus fun fact: Australia is actually wider than the Moon. Today, most scientists believe the Moon is ‘Earth's child’ – a large body collided with Earth, destroying our planet’s mantle and sending material into orbit from which the Moon formed. This gradual drift is not noticeable on a day-to-day basis, but over millions of years, it can have significant effects on Earth's rotation. Over time, this process has caused the Moon to move farther away from Earth each year. This bulge in turn creates a gravitational pull on the Moon, causing it to accelerate slightly and move further away from Earth. You read that correctly! The Moon is gradually drifting away from Earth at a rate of approximately 4 cm per year. This phenomenon is caused by the Moon pulling on Earth’s oceans creating tidal forces that produce a bulge of water on the side of Earth facing the Moon. This research is essential for informing policy decisions on issues such as climate change and sea level rise, and for developing strategies to mitigate their impact on coastal communities around the world. Data from satellites such as CryoSat, ESA’s ice mission, allow scientists to track changes in the thickness and movement of the ice sheet over time, providing insights into how it is responding to a changing climate.ĮSA has recently teamed up with NASA and the British Antarctic Survey ( BAS) to carry out an ambitious campaign in Antarctica which involved taking simultaneous measurements of sea ice from ESA’s CryoSat and NASA’s ICESat-2 satellites. Monitoring the Antarctic ice sheet is therefore of paramount importance and satellite data plays a crucial role in this effort. The study of post-glacial rebound provides important insights into the structure and behaviour of Earth's interior, and how it responds to changes in the surface environment over long timescales. Recent research had found that West Antarctica is rising faster than anywhere else in the world, thanks to data from ESA’s GOCE gravity mission. This process is still occurring today in places such as Canada, Scandinavia, and Greenland, where the land is still rebounding from the weight of the glaciers that once covered the region. As the glaciers melted and receded, the mantle slowly rebounded back to its original position over thousands of years, causing the land above it to rise. During the last ice age, large portions of Earth's surface were covered by glaciers, causing the underlying mantle to deform and sink. One consequence of this squishy interior is a process known as post-glacial rebound. This squishy consistency allows the mantle to flow and move over geological timescales, which is responsible for phenomena such as plate tectonics, volcanic activity and earthquakes. Coral bleaching can lead to the death of the coral, which can have knock-on effects on the wider ecosystem.Įarth’s interior is not solid, but rather has a semi-solid or ‘squishy’ consistency owing to high temperatures and pressures. Rising temperatures can also have a direct impact on coral reefs, causing coral bleaching, which occurs when corals expel the algae that live in their tissues and provide them with food. By using satellite technology to measure ocean colour, temperature and salinity, scientists can track changes in ocean chemistry and detect areas where acidification is occurring. ESA research has shown how our ocean waters have become more acidic over the last three decades and how this is having a detrimental effect on marine life. Unfortunately, coral reefs are under threat from a range of environmental factors, including ocean acidification, rising temperatures and global warming.
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