New research shows that persistent groundwater extraction over more than a decade has shifted the axis on which our planet rotates
Humans’ unquenchable thirst for groundwater has sucked so much liquid from subsurface reserves that it’s affecting Earth’s tilt, according to a new study. Groundwater provides drinking water for people and livestock, and it helps with crop irrigation when rain is scarce. However, the new research shows that persistent groundwater extraction over more than a decade shifted the axis on which our planet rotates, tipping it over to the east at a rate of about 1.7 inches per year.
In fact, any mass change on Earth, including atmospheric pressure, can affect its axis of rotation, Seo told CNN in an email. But axis changes caused by atmospheric pressure shifts are periodic, which means that the rotational pole wanders and then returns to its prior position, Seo explained. Seo and his colleagues had questions about long-term changes to the axis — specifically, how groundwater contributed to that phenomenon. It had not been calculated in prior research.
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