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When people pump groundwater, it has a big effect on the tilt of the Earth’s rotation.
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In addition, the study reveals how much influence groundwater pumping has on climate change.
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Understanding this latest data can provide a better understanding of how to help prevent sea level rise.
Water is powerful. So much energy, in fact, that pumping the Earth’s groundwater can change the Earth’s tilt and rotation. It can also affect 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 Geophysical Research Letters-we can see that, in less than 20 years, the Earth has tilted 31.5 inches as a result of groundwater pumping. This is equivalent to .24 inches of sea level rise.
“The planet’s rotation is very variable,” Ki-Weon Seo, a geophysicist at Seoul National University and the leader of the study, says in a statement. “Our analysis shows that among climate-related factors, the redistribution of groundwater has the greatest impact on the erosion of the rolling stock.”
With the Earth moving on a rotating axis, the distribution of water on the earth affects the distribution of mass. “Like adding a small weight to the top rotates,” the authors say, “The Earth rotates slightly as the water moves around.”
A NASA research published in 2016 warned us that the distribution of water can change the rotation of the Earth. This study in Geophysical Research Letters trying to add some hard numbers to that experience. “I’m very happy to find an unexplained reason for the rotation of the pole,” Seo says. “On the other hand, as a citizen and a father, I am concerned and surprised to see that groundwater pumping is one of the factors that increase sea level rise.
The study included data from 1993 to 2010, and showed that the pumping of 2,150 gigatons of groundwater caused a change in the Earth’s tilt of about 31.5 inches. This pumping is mainly for irrigation and human use, the ground water will go to the oceans.
In this study, the researchers modeled and observed changes in the erosion of the Earth’s rotation pole and the movement of water. Among the various scenarios, the only model consistent with the drop was one that included 2,150 gigatons of groundwater distribution.
Surendra Adhikari, a research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory who was involved in the 2016 study, says additional research is necessary. “They measured the role of groundwater pumping in the polar movement,” he says in a press release, “and it’s important.”
Where the water comes from—and to—is important. Redistributing water from the center makes a big difference, so our strong movement of water from western North America and northwest India played a big role in changing the gradient.
Now that the impact of water movement is known in the short- and recent-term, digging through the past can help to show the patterns and give a great dimension to the understanding of the consequences of the movement of groundwater.
Seo says, “Seeing the changes that have been made to the Earth’s rotation axis, “to understand the difference in water in the continents.”
This data can also help conservationists understand how to work to prevent continued sea level rise and other climate issues. Hopefully, changes can be made effectively over time.
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