Moonfluence

The Moon has played more than a bit part on the evolution of life on Earth. The Moon formed from the debris of a massive impact of an asteroid the size of a small planet against the Earth. Initially the Earth spun many times faster than it does now, making for a chaotic and inhospitable climate. The Moon, which used to be much closer than it is today (and it's currently leaving us at the rate of one meter each century), slowed the Earth's rotation, which slowed and stabilized its weather.

The Moon's pull on the tides of the ocean at one time caused enormous waves the size of mountains to crash against the land's rocky surface and then pull back. Sediment full of minerals was pulled into the oceans, forming the primordial soup. All of that unthinkable churning, mixing, and crashing of the ocean water wrought molecular change. Mineral-rich water, churned up, created new molecules that evolved into life.

The Earth's tilted axis causes our seasons, but without the Moon to stabilize that rotation the Earth would rock to and fro. Such climatary chaos would destroy life as we know it. It's fascinating how the effects of the formation of a moon just the right size made for the right conditions to birth humanity. It's also fascinating how when sliced it is like a delicious Roquefort.