Groundwater extraction changes the Earth’s axis

A study published in an academic journal Geophysical Research Letters andindicates that groundwater extraction has changed the os Land.

According to the models used by the scientists, the redistribution of groundwater has tilted the Earth’s axis of rotation more than 78.7 centimeters to the east in just under two decades.

“Our study shows that, among climate-related causes, groundwater redistribution actually has the greatest impact on the rotation axis shift,” said Ki-Weon Seo, lead author of the study and a professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at Seoul National University, South Korea. .

For a new study, scientists took data from 2010 on groundwater pumping and incorporated them into computer models, along with observational data on surface ice loss and sea level rise, and estimates of changes in the axis of rotation.

Groundwater extraction not only depletes resources, findings show that this activity has unintended global consequences.

When water is extracted from the ground but not replenished, the ground can settle, damaging infrastructure and also reducing the amount of space underground that can subsequently hold water.

“We’ve affected the Earth’s systems in a variety of ways,” says Seo. – People must be aware of that.

Scientists estimate that between 1960 and 2000, global groundwater depletion more than doubled, to about 75 trillion gallons per year.

Since then, satellites measuring variations in Earth’s gravity have revealed the staggering extent to which groundwater supplies have declined.

The Earth’s axis has not shifted enough to affect the seasons, which are determined by the tilt of the planet. But the patterns and variations in the rotation of the planets are very important to satellite navigation systems which they run planes, missiles, and map apps.