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Well the earth is a more or less solid surface layer floating on a semi fluid layer surrounding a couple more layers of fluid and an iron core (or more). All spinning and interacting with each other. Transfer of angular momentum between those various layers will do far more to the spin axis than moving ground water about the surface.
The most cursory logic would lead to this conclusion. It is laughable that a tiny amount of groundwater removed from the earth's crust would cause even a measurable change in the earth's tilt.
There are 6 million cubic miles of groundwater stored in the earth, or 2.8 million trillion gallons. Not a typo. Yes, that is 2.8 trillion gallons, a million times over.
Compare to say melting glaciers or reforming glaciers. Imagine the miniscule amount of groundwater man has pumped from the earth in the last 100 years, vs. the mass of ice formation or melt with glaciers. There must be 10,000 or 100,000 times more water involved in glaciation over the past 100 years, than all of the groundwater pumped out of the crust.
Some people not only give man WAY TOO MUCH credit for what he does, but they have no conception of what nature does on its own or how that compares to what man does.
The report notes that the motion was poorly tracked pre 1993, that there is ALWAYS motion, just more now, and that in any case - this wasn't measured. It was modeled.
The estimate is about 2 trillion tons of ground water moved over 30 years. 66 billion tons per year. There is a problem with that number.
We use 10 billion tons. PER DAY. Kinda implies that ALL of the moved ground water amounts to less than 2% of our daily usage. So not sure really that there's anything to be done - cut back on use by 2%? Ok. Now what?
The thing is - since 1993 - another 2.5 billion people have landed on planet earth - and although a person is mainly made of water and not nearly usually a ton, it's really the cement and steel and food that they move that equals far more than 10 billion tons per day. We move 5 billion tons of oil per year from the ground - a bit less than 66 with water - but still - is it not a noticeable number? Where is it in the model?
A bit more - 8 billion people using 10 billion tons - I don't personally drink a ton a day - but hey, you do you. So most of the water is not for personal use. It's for irrigation, manufacturing, and so on. USA, irrigation is the biggest use - at about 10% that of China + India.
So if we (USA) stop pulling water up - but they continue - won't that make it worse?
Besides the greenhouse gasses emissions that cause glaciers to melt, other human activity is responsible for changes in Earth’s hydrosphere.
Humans pumping groundwater has a substantial impact on the tilt of Earth’s rotation.
Understanding this relatively recent data may provide a better understanding of how to help stave off sea-level rise.
Among climate-related causes, the redistribution of groundwater actually has the largest impact on the drift of the rotational pole.
With the Earth moving on a rotational pole, the distribution of water on the planet impacts distribution of mass.
In the 1990s, the Earth’s axis underwent a major shift. It is normal for the Earth’s axis to move by a few centimeters each year. But, in the 1990s, the direction of polar drift shifted suddenly and the rate of the drift accelerated.
Scientist believe that that the main driver of the change in direction of the axial shift was glacier melt caused by global warming.
Another click-bait article. The use of the word "should" in its title is a huge clue. Just who is this god figure that determines what "should" and "should not" happen in nature? What that writer "should" do is a little introspection on grandiosity.
And the quote within it continues on with grandiose thinking:
“I’m very glad to find the unexplained cause of the rotation pole drift,” Seo says. “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.”
Ahh, such logic for rational concern. Fatherhood can be a reason for concern and surprise, I'm sure, but this person sounds like the HOA president from hades. "I'm a father and that gives me the right to tell you not to water your lawn because it will tilt the Earth (of which, I might add, I am a resident!) Turn OFF your sprinkler!" BAD neighbor!
You might find the above extreme extension of the logic ridiculous and hilarious, I merely point out that the core logic is also ridiculous and laughable.
What about the weight of all the coal and oil extracted? What about the weight of all the cattle raised in farms and eaten in cities? The whole premise is juvenile. Look around the internet for one of those graphics that shows the Earth and next to it a ball of water that represents ALL of the water on Earth. Figure out for yourself how much the distribution of it has as an effect on spin.
Well the earth is a more or less solid surface layer floating on a semi fluid layer surrounding a couple more layers of fluid and an iron core (or more). All spinning and interacting with each other. Transfer of angular momentum between those various layers will do far more to the spin axis than moving ground water about the surface.
It was said that humans pumping groundwater has a substantial impact, not that this is the only cause. Climate-related causes are contributing too.
This is a NASA study, and published by reputable source, where is your study?
Another click-bait article. The use of the word "should" in its title is a huge clue. Just who is this god figure that determines what "should" and "should not" happen in nature? What that writer "should" do is a little introspection on grandiosity.
And the quote within it continues on with grandiose thinking:
“I’m very glad to find the unexplained cause of the rotation pole drift,” Seo says. “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.”
Ahh, such logic for rational concern. Fatherhood can be a reason for concern and surprise, I'm sure, but this person sounds like the HOA president from hades. "I'm a father and that gives me the right to tell you not to water your lawn because it will tilt the Earth (of which, I might add, I am a resident!) Turn OFF your sprinkler!" BAD neighbor!
You might find the above extreme extension of the logic ridiculous and hilarious, I merely point out that the core logic is also ridiculous and laughable.
What about the weight of all the coal and oil extracted? What about the weight of all the cattle raised in farms and eaten in cities? The whole premise is juvenile. Look around the internet for one of those graphics that shows the Earth and next to it a ball of water that represents ALL of the water on Earth. Figure out for yourself how much the distribution of it has as an effect on spin.
I tend to agree with you on this issue. The earth's tilt may create seasonal changes, but it is also possible that such tilts have happened millions of years ago. The fact is that we humans don't even know enough about ourselves (our genetic make-up, etc.), and yet we think we know all about our planet
That aside, articles like the one above are designed to bring-in revenue (grants, and so on).
It was said that humans pumping groundwater has a substantial impact, not that this is the only cause. Climate-related causes are contributing too.
This is a NASA study, and published by reputable source, where is your study?
The referenced 2016 study was by JPL, funded by NASA. It says:
However, in addition to the angular momentum transfer within Earth’s surface fluid envelope, a relatively poorly modeled angular momentum coupling between the mantle and the core must also be considered. This fact necessitates using a filter to remove 7-year and longer periodicities (49) from ΔLOD(t) and suggests that useful inferences of large-scale surface mass transport from axial changes in rotation during the 13-year GRACE time series considered in our analysis will be quite difficult to obtain. (Adhikari & Ivins, 2016)
I don't argue with either the 2016 study, nor this one specifically. I argue against drawing conclusions from "articles" such as the one in Popular Mechanics which are written from press releasees to generate clicks.
It was said that humans pumping groundwater has a substantial impact, not that this is the only cause. Climate-related causes are contributing too.
This is a NASA study, and published by reputable source, where is your study?
This is not a NASA study, It is an American Geophysical Union study. This is what the article says about NASA.
“Thanks to a study from NASA published in 2016, we were alerted to the fact that the distribution of water can change the Earth’s rotation. This new study attempted to add some hard figures to that realization.”
The fact that we are collecting data on this matter and others, reviewing it and asking questions about how it may affect us, is the most important point.
On a more cynical note I think most realize we will drive this ship into the ground, such is human nature.
On a more cynical note I think most realize we will drive this ship into the ground, such is human nature.
Even though it is depicted in the movies, too, I have a feeling, if it came to that, mother nature will get rid of us before then. Earth dies, we die but if we die, planet survives.
As technology progresses to create better alternatives to utilize different sources for our energy needs, we are also hurting the environment we live in. Hopefully, we will reach the require level of technical prowess to be able to no longer harm the planet or nature before planet is completely used up.
Supposedly, the planet actually has enough resources to sustain even a larger human population but the evil elite is doing their darnest to come up with ways to knock off as many zeros from the end as they can.
The Dzhanibekov effect, has, and will again, move the the axis of the earth's current orientation. The North pole rotational axis has been at the equator. The earth is not a perfectly balance sphere. Even today, the length of days very from year to year (slosh). We also wobble, as noted. Some models have this flip happening within days. Models. Magnet poles flip too. The earth is not as static as we might all might hope... me anyways. (tnff has it right - we are atop a fluid mess that can be modulated with energy)
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Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The use of the word "should" in its title is a huge clue. Just who is this god figure that determines what "should" and "should not" happen in nature? What that writer "should" do is a little introspection on grandiosity.
