Our water consumption has changed the rotation of the Earth

So much of the Earth’s mass has been redistributed by pumping out groundwater that the Earth’s rotation has changed. Scientists from Korea discovered this in a study.

For example, between 1993 and 2010, more than 2,000 gigatons of groundwater were pumped out of the ground. Most of the water has flowed into the oceans and has contributed significantly to global sea level rise.

This redistribution of water at the surface also caused the Earth’s axis of rotation to tilt about 80 centimeters to the east during this period.

“Our study shows that among climate-related causes, groundwater redistribution actually has the greatest impact on rotation pole drift,” said lead researcher Ki-Weon Seo of Seoul National University.

It is true that 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 known until now.

According to the study, the position of the extracted groundwater also influences the extent to which the rotation changes. Thus, the redistribution of water from the middle latitudes has a greater influence on the rotation.

Finally, as the researchers write, the axis of rotation normally shifts by a few meters within a year. This is because the distribution of sea ice and water on the planet is constantly changing.

The researchers do not think that pumping out groundwater causes a shift in the seasons. This can only happen if the Earth changes its tilt so that it is at a different angle to the sun.

But in the longer term, the scientists say, the shift in the Earth’s axis could eventually cause changes in climate.

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