Thaindian News

London, March 9 (IANS) The world wide web has broadcast dire warnings about how the movement of the moon will trigger tidal waves and volcanic eruptions on March 19.

The conspiracy theorists claim that on March 19, the moon will be closer to Earth than at any time since 1992, just 221,567 miles away, and that its gravitational pull will bring chaos on Earth.

The tsunami that killed hundreds of thousands of people in Indonesia happened two weeks before such a ’supermoon’ in January 2005. And on Christmas Day 1974, Cyclone Tracy laid waste to Darwin, Australia.

However, astronomers have dismissed the claims as pure nonsense. The bizarre rumours centre on a phenomenon called the ‘lunar perigee’, the Daily Mail reports.

The moon’s orbit around Earth is not a circle, but an ellipse. At its closest approach - the perigee, the moon appears brighter and larger in the sky. When it is furthest away - the apogee - it is smaller and dimmer.

A lunar perigee occurs once a month. However, next week’s perigee coincides with a full moon - a combination of events that happen just once every two or three years.

Although it makes a good photo opportunity for astronomers, scientists say it has no impact on Earth.

Previous supermoons took place in 1955, 1974, 1992 and 2005 — all years that had extreme weather events, the conspiracy theorists say.

David Harland, space historian and author, said: “It’s possible that the moon may be a kilometre or two closer to Earth than normal at a perigee, but it’s an utterly insignificant event.”

But the internet is awash with conspiracy-minded amateur scientists warning that such a ’supermoon’ could disrupt Earth’s climate patterns and may even cause earthquakes and volcanic activity.