2024-04-06 13:26:50
Because humanity has pumped out enormous amounts of groundwater, the earth’s axis has shifted. Water redistribution could have an even greater impact.
By pumping out groundwater, so much mass has been redistributed on Earth that the rotation of the Earth has changed. Scientists from Korea found this out in a study.
According to this, more than 2,000 gigatons of groundwater were pumped out of the earth from 1993 to 2010. Most of the water flowed into the oceans and contributed significantly to the rise in global sea levels.
This redistribution of water to the surface also caused the Earth’s axis of rotation to tilt to the east by around 80 centimeters during this period.
The location of the groundwater also influences the rotation
“Our study shows that among climate-related causes, groundwater redistribution actually has the largest impact on rotation pole drift,” said lead researcher Ki-Weon Seo of Seoul National University.
It has long been known that the water on Earth influences the entire mass distribution of the planet. In 2016, researchers also found that the redistribution of water changes the Earth’s rotation. But what influence the extraction of groundwater has on the rotation was not yet known.
According to the study, the location of the groundwater extracted also influences how much the rotation is changed. The redistribution of water from the mid-latitudes therefore has a greater influence on rotation.
Rotational change does not cause a seasonal shift
As the researchers conclude, the axis of rotation usually shifts by several meters within a year. This is because the distribution of sea ice and water on the planet is constantly changing.
Researchers don’t think pumping out groundwater will cause a shift in the seasons. This can only happen if the Earth changes its tilt so that it assumes a different angle to the Sun.
But in the longer term, scientists say, shifting the Earth’s axis could eventually cause climate changes.