What if Earth had a ring system like Saturn?

Some time ago I read an article stating that the moon is moving closer to Earth at a rate of maybe 3-5cm per year or so, and in a few million years it would be gone, into the Sun or in space or whatever, and wouldn’t be in orbit anymore. I’m not entirely sure if this is true, but Earth will one day lose its moon.<br><br>I was curious what the night sky would’ve looked like if the moon had been destroyed in a cataclysmic event and formed a ring system like Saturn’s, but much smaller. It wouldn’t be like Saturn’s, with each ring formed of many smaller, icy moonlets and rock particles; Earth’s moon is much larger than most of Saturn’s moons, so the ring system would be composed of many smaller pieces of rock and dust that formed from the remains of the moon.<br><br>The resulting ring system would be more akin to Jupiter’s or Uranus’, where the ring system is mostly composed of dust ejected by meteoroid impacts. But because the moon is much larger than the smaller moons of Jupiter and Uranus, the ring system would be more prominent in the night sky, and each ring would be more defined, brighter and wider than Jupiter’s or Uranus’.<br><br>Now, if humans had existed at the time of the moon’s destruction, how would our lives change? Maybe the ring system would’ve made nights brighter, allowing us to do things after sunset that would’ve otherwise required artificial lighting, like sports or recreational activities. Maybe it would’ve inspired a whole different set of myths and legends surrounding the night sky, or perhaps even become a ubiquitous part of human culture, like the stars or the planets.<br><br>Now imagine if, one day, humans turned to space travel and colonisation, and if we were to look at Earth from space, we would see a ringed planet, like Saturn. How would that have influenced our perception of the cosmos, or the way we thought about the Earth and its place in the universe? Maybe if we had a ring system, we would appreciate more the beauty of Earth and the universe, and not take our planet for granted, or maybe we would’ve been inspired to push our boundaries and reach for the stars, like we are today.<br><br>This is all just speculation of course, but it’s been fun to think about, and I hope this satisfies the prompt well enough.