How Will the 2012 Planet Alignment Affect Us?

By Maya Prodgers

Come the winter solstice, 2012, the planets will be positioned in a rare alignment that has taken thousands of years to come about. Many people around the world are wondering how this alignment will affect us.

The most common fear is that the gravitational pull of the other planets will all act together and cause such a huge pull on the Earth that earthquakes result. The pull would be greater on one side than the other given that there are more planets further out than there are between us and the Sun.

However, this fear seems unfounded, as the gravitational pull decreases significantly as the distance from us increases. Yet, since this kind of alignment has not occurred in human memory, there is no way to know for sure whether the gravitational pull of one planet will cancel out that of another or whether they would magnify each other. The results wait to be seen.

Other people say that it will be increased tidal forces that are more likely, given the fact that it is the gravitational effect of the moon that causes the tidal shifts on Earth. Again, there is a chance that with the distances involved, and the fact that one planet's gravity may cancel out another's. that any changes to the tides will be negligible.