“The melting of the ice shifts the earth’s axis and the poles” – Corriere.it

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One of the less obvious consequences of the melting of continental ice is the displacement of the Earth’s axis and poles. But with the precise measurements carried out by the satellites it was noted starting from the nineties of the last century a drift towards the longitude 26 ° East of the poles equal to 3.28 millimeters per year. The study was published in Geophysical Research Letters conducted by four Chinese and one Danish scientists. In any case, there is no danger for our lives: at most the duration of the day changes by a few thousandths of a second.

The movements

The transformation of frozen areas in Antarctica, Greenland, Alaska, the Southern Andes, the Caucasus and the Middle East into water, eventually reaching the oceans, changes the positioning of the masses on the surface of the Earth. If the masses are moved, the direction of the rotation axis begins to “wobble” to find a new equilibrium, a very small movement but that the twin satellites Grace (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) have been able to grasp in detail.


Acceleration

Since 1995, the shift of the poles has changed: from movements towards the South, they have passed to movements towards the East. Between 1995 and 2020, the movements increased by 17 times compared to the period 1981-1995. The displacements, however, say the authors of the research, are not due only to the melting of continental ice, but also to the withdrawal of water from the subsoil, which alters the underground aquifers and helps to modify the distribution of the masses on the surface.

April 22, 2021 (change April 22, 2021 | 18:17)

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