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When people pump groundwater, they greatly affect the tilt of the Earth’s rotation.
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Additionally, the study reveals how much impact groundwater pumping has on climate change.
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Understanding this latest data may provide a better understanding of how to help avoid sea level rise.
Water is strong. In fact, so much energy that pumping underground water can change the tilt and rotation of the planet. It may also contribute to sea level rise and other effects of climate change.
Pumping groundwater appears to have a greater effect than previously thought. But now—thanks to a study published in a journal Environmental Research Books—we see that, in less than twenty years, the Earth has tilted by 31.5 centimeters due to the pumping of underground water. This is equivalent to 24 inches of sea level rise.
“The Earth’s rotating pole is changing dramatically,” Ki-Weon Seo, a geophysicist at Seoul National University and the leader of the study, said in a statement. “Our research shows that among climate-related causes, the redistribution of groundwater actually has the greatest impact on the flooding of the rotating pole.”
As the Earth moves over a rotating pole, the distribution of water on the Earth affects the distribution of mass. “Like adding a little weight to the spinning top,” the authors say, “the Earth rotates a little as the water is stirred.”
A NASA study published in 2016 warned us that the distribution of water could change the Earth’s rotation. This research on Geophysical Research Letters efforts to add difficult calculations to that realization. “I am very happy to find the unexplained cause of the pole drifting,” said Seo. “On the other hand, as a citizen of the world and a father, I am concerned and surprised to see that pumping underground water is another way to raise the sea level.”
The study included data from 1993 to 2010, and showed that about 2,150 groundwater pumping events caused a change in the Earth’s tilt of 31.5 inches. Pumping is mainly for irrigation and human consumption, and groundwater eventually moves to the sea.
In the study, modeling researchers observed changes in the Earth’s rotating pole and water movement. Across the different scenarios, the only model consistent with drift was the one that included 2,150 gigatons of groundwater distribution.
Surendra Adhikari, a research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory who participated in the 2016 study, says more research is necessary. “They have measured the role of groundwater pumping in polar motion,” he said in a press release, “and it is very significant.”
Where the water comes from—and goes—is important. The redistribution of water from the central areas makes a huge difference, so our large movement of water from western North America and northwest India has contributed greatly to the change in tilt.
Now that the impact of water movement is known over such a short—and recent—period, mining historical data can help show trends and provide greater depth in understanding the effects of groundwater movement.
Says Seo: “Seeing changes in the Earth’s circulation is helpful in understanding the variability of water storage across the continent.”
This information may also help conservationists understand how to work to avoid further sea level rise and other climate problems. Hopefully, changes can be made properly over time.
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