Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi

New Delhi, Jul 15: A study conducted by space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) showed a 'wobble' in Moon's orbit along with rising sea levels which would possibly lead to devastating floods in the 2030s. Terming the calamity as 'nuisance floods', the study said the events would become more frequent and erratic and the brunt would be faced majorly by the US coastline.

The study's lead author Phil Thompson, an assistant professor at the University of Hawaii, said that the 'wobble' in the Moon's orbit takes 18.6 years to complete while commenting on the impact of the Moon on flooding on Earth.

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 while the cycle is expected to occur in mid-2030s, and coupled with the rising sea level, could lead to more such devastating floods.

The Moon's wooble, as described by the NASA's website, is when the Moon makes its elliptical orbit, its velocity varies and alters causing our perspective of the 'light side' to appear at slightly different angles that causes the wooble or that is how it appears to our eyes.

The visual can be seen only when a full month of lunar views gets compressed into 12 seconds, while a casual glance skyward would not reveal this.

During half of the Moon’s orbit of 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.