We've Pumped So Much Groundwater That We've Nudged the Earth's Spin, Says New Study
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We've pumped so much groundwater that we've nudged the Earth's spin, says new study:
By pumping water out of the ground and moving it elsewhere, humans have shifted such a large mass of water that the Earth tilted nearly 80 centimeters (31.5 inches) east between 1993 and 2010 alone, according to a new study published in Geophysical Research Letters.
Based on climate models, scientists previously estimated humans pumped 2,150 gigatons of groundwater, equivalent to more than 6 millimeters (0.24 inches) of sea level rise, from 1993 to 2010. But validating that estimate is difficult.
[...] Water's ability to change the Earth's rotation was discovered in 2016, and until now, the specific contribution of groundwater to these rotational changes was unexplored. In the new study, researchers modeled the observed changes in the drift of Earth's rotational pole and the movement of water-first, with only ice sheets and glaciers considered, and then adding in different scenarios of groundwater redistribution.
The model only matched the observed polar drift once the researchers included 2150 gigatons of groundwater redistribution. Without it, the model was off by 78.5 centimeters (31 inches), or 4.3 centimeters (1.7 inches) of drift per year.
"I'm very glad to find the unexplained cause of the rotation pole drift," [lead study author Ki-Weon] Seo said. "On the other hand, as a resident of Earth and a father, I'm concerned and surprised to see that pumping groundwater is another source of sea-level rise."
Journal References:
1.) Ki-Weon Seo, et. al. Drift of Earth's Pole Confirms Groundwater Depletion as a Significant Contributor to Global Sea Level Rise 1993-2010, Geophysical Research Letters (DOI: 10.1029/2023GL103509)
2.) Yoshihide Wada, et. al. Global depletion of groundwater resources, Geophysical Research Letters (DOI: 10.1029/2010GL044571)
3.) Surendra Adhikari and Erik R. Ivins, Climate-driven polar motion: 2003-2015, Science Advances (DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1501693)
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