Do the moon phases affect the weather?

[bob91]

Hi, my son is doing a science project on how the moon phases affects the weather, can anyone give me some links to find information about this? I'd really appreciate some help, thanks so much!

 

[jschaef5]

I don't think that the moon reflects enough light to make any noticable change in the weather. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[silylene old]

<br /><br />The full moon reflects enough light to increase the Earth's average surface temperature by 0.02C. There was a good paper on this subject in Science a few years ago.<br /><br />This reference discusses the impact pf the lunar phase:<br />http://www.co2andclimate.org/climate/previous_issues/vol1/v1n13/hot1.htm<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><em><font color="#0000ff">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</font></em> </div><div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><font color="#0000ff"><em>I really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function.</em></font> </div> </div>

 

[chuchurokit]

I know that a full moon or a new moon effect tides. like right now during high tide the water is almost coming onto the pier, where say a half moon phase it doesnt remotely come that high.

 

[kmarinas86]

<font color="yellow">I know that a full moon or a new moon effect tides. like right now during high tide the water is almost coming onto the pier, where say a half moon phase it doesnt remotely come that high.</font><br /><br />That's because of the alignment of the sun, moon, and earth. If the alignment is very, very, precise, then you might have a huge surge of water that mimics the low presure zone of a hurricane. China a few years ago got hit by one of those "tidal" waves caused by a very precise alignment of the moon, earth, and sun.

 

[alkalin]

The moon has more influences than we yet know about. For instance the tides. They can be very gravitationally large in mid ocean. So what you ask?. Just that it may carry the continents, I say. But how far? <br /> <br />Only about an inch a year, don’t ya know? But wait, you may say, doesn’t the Earth’s interior heating and convection do this? Show me where? Oh, yes, so there are a few volcanoes!!<br /><br />But the Moon’s influence on the weather is there, just not obvious. Mostly a trick from the tides, I say. Ocean water moves, due to the moon. But you may counter, so what.? All I say is moon and sun work together. Sun heats Earth, moon moves oceans.<br /><br />Of course there is more in the sense of a nearby body such as the moon. But it’s influence on our weather is only indirect, and rather negligible. The obvious heat source for us is the sun, and that is the major driver of our weather.. <br /><br />Do ocean tidal waters that move into and fill estuaries and low lying areas affect weather? Perhaps they do a little. Do tidal effects along shorelines cause some weather influence due to greater evaporation? I might think this does influence weather a little. Just look at the thousands of miles of shoreline for a perspective on this.<br /><br />There were superstitions in the past about moon phases affecting weather and I hope his project is not referring to this??<br />

 

[silylene old]

There is some evidence that large earthquakes are slightly more likely in times of either a full or a new moon (however this is disputed too).<br /><br />There is also some evidence that volcanic eruption likelyhoods and lava flow rates are heavier during a full or new moon. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/02/0215_020215_volcanohunter.html <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><em><font color="#0000ff">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</font></em> </div><div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><font color="#0000ff"><em>I really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function.</em></font> </div> </div>

 

[nexium]

Hi kmarinus; That may be a good Rael answer, but a very, very precice alignment only produces slightly higher tides than the closest annual alignment in a typical year.<br /> The moon's gravity likely provides part of the energy that causes Earth's atmosphere to rotate slowly to the East in the Northern Hemisphere (Same ditection in the Southern Hemispere?) but I think weather paterns that match the moon phases are debunked by main stream meterologists, but not authors of almanacs. Neil

 

[CalliArcale]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>Many plant, animal species tie their sexual cycles to the moon, esp. the full moon and the high tides.<p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br /><br />Very true. I always got annoyed with Arthur C Clarke for depicting an idyllic scenario in "2010" when Jupiter was ignited into a star -- the light would play havoc with the rhythms of so many species it seemed downright thoughtless of him. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /><br /><br />Some species also time their reproduction by the <i>new</i> moon, presumably so they can breed under cover of darkness. I believe sea turtles are among these. They come ashore and lay their eggs in the dark of the moon. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[CalliArcale]

Actually, that one is likely just coincidence. The average length of the human estruus cycle isn't exactly the same as the lunar cycle, most women do not cycle on the actual average period (and it varies widely from cycle to cycle in most women), and even those who are very regular do not stay synchronized with the moon at all.<br /><br />It's just that both the lunar orbit and the female cycle are close to four weeks. So the mind draws a connection, though really there isn't one. If the cycles were synchronized to the moon, you'd expect them to actually match. But they don't.<br /><br />BTW, it is also a myth that women's cycles will synchronize if they're together. It's actually not true at all, but the result of people naturally ascribing meaning to coincidence. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>