Supermoon caused above normal high tide

THERE was nothing to fear about the supermoon that lit the sky last Saturday night.

Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Adminisration (Pagasa) Mactan’s weather analyst Kelly Torregosa told Cebu Daily News that the only effect the perigee full moon was the high sea level rise.

“Dako gyud ang dagat,” (High tide was above normal) he said.

But he emphasized that the above normal high tide was not enough to cause coastal flooding.

As of 10:39am yesterday, Pagasa recorded sea level rise of 1.76 meters. As of 5:44pm, the sea level went down to -.037 meters.

According to the National Aeronautics Space Administration (Nasa) website, this year’s perigee full moon will be 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than the other full moons in 2012.

Nasa defined perigee full moon or supermoon as a situation when the moon is slightly closer to Earth in its orbit, and this effect is most noticeable when it occurs at the same time as a full moon. The moon may seem bigger although the difference in its distance from Earth is only a few percent at such times.

“It is called a supermoon because this is a very noticeable alignment that at first glance would seem to have an effect,” it said.

NASA also indicated that effects on Earth from a supermoon are minor, and according to the most detailed studies by terrestrial seismologists and volcanologists, the combination of the moon being at its closest to Earth in its orbit, and being in its ‘full moon’ configuration (relative to the Earth and sun), should not affect the internal energy balance of the Earth since there are lunar tides every day.

“The Earth has stored a tremendous amount of internal energy within its thin outer shell or crust, and the small differences in the tidal forces exerted by the moon (and sun) are not enough to fundamentally overcome the much larger forces within the planet due to convection (and other aspects of the internal energy balance that drives plate tectonics),” it said. /Correspondent Carmel Loise Matus