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To keep a long story short, the orbit of the moon around the earth is not a perfect circle, but rather, it is a more of an oval shape. Thus, the distance between these two bodies is different everyday.

Moreover, the interaction between the moon's and earth's gravitational forces influences the tides (ever wondered about high and low tides?), which eventually leads to a retardation in the speed of the earth's rotation. (Thus, the duration of one Earth Day is increasing at the rate of one second per 100000 years)

The result of the slower rotation is the increasing strength of the moon's centrifugal force (the "outward" force an object has when it is spinning), relative to Earth's gravity.

Therefore, the moon is retreating from the earth every single day.

Source: Illustrated Encyclopedia of Science and Nature -- Space and Planets. Published by TimeLife.

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