• Question: What happens if planet earth goes smaller? will we die?

    Asked by KeepUP to Vinita, Kirsty, Col Op, Charlie 🚀, Andrea on 22 Jun 2016.
    • Photo: Kirsty Lindsay

      Kirsty Lindsay answered on 22 Jun 2016:

      I think it depends on how/ why the Earth got smaller- loosing a chunk after being hit by a big astroid for example would be catastrophic, but if we just woke up one day with a smaller planet (maybe magic?) I’m sure it would be fine.

      my walk to work might even be a bit shorter 🙂

    • Photo: Charles Laing

      Charles Laing answered on 22 Jun 2016:

      Hi KeepUP,

      If the mass of the planet decreased then so would the gravitational pull!

      This would have several interesting effects:

      1) We would all weigh less.
      2) The moon would drift further away and this could cause chaos with our oceans and tides.
      3) The Earth’s magnetic field would likely change and could expose us to harmful radiation as it is no longer there to fully protect us.
      4) The Earth’s atmosphere would probably get thinner as the force of gravity would no longer be able to keep enough atmosphere surrounding us.

      Depending on how much smaller our planet got would determine if we die or not. If the size decreases dramatically then probably yes; a little decrease then probably not.

      Charlie 🚀

    • Photo: Andrea Boyd

      Andrea Boyd answered on 23 Jun 2016:

      I agree with the other answers 🙂

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