Informational Speech Outline:
1. High and low tides.
A. The moons gravitational pull causes tidal bulge.
1. The tidal bulge is the 3 ft. rise and fall of the tides in most places.
2. An extreme illustration of this is Canada’s Bay of Fundy.
B. The friction of the tidal bulge slows the earth’s rotation for our comfortable 24 hour day rather then a 6 hour day.
2. Earth’s Climate.
A. The gravitational affect of the moon keeps the degree of tilt on the earth’s rotational axes constant.
1. The moon is what maintains the repeatable cycle of the seasons as we orbit the sun.
2. The earth’s tilt is 23.5 degrees, and without the moon that tilt would very chaotically, causing extreme climate changes throughout the year.
3. There is 234,000 miles between the earth and moon.
A. The moon hasn’t always been this far from earth and is slowly drifting further out.
1. The tidal bulge creates torque on the moon driving its orbit further out, about 2 inches every year.
2. There is no need to worry because its distance is increasing so slowly that the sun will die out before we ever see the moon fall out of our orbit.
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