The pumping of groundwater could affect the climate and make sea levels rise, according to a study.
Julia Gomez
USA TODAY
Earth tilted, but it had nothing to do with weird space phenomena and everything to do with how people are pumping groundwater and shipping it across the planet, a study found.
The findings of a study from June 2023 are making headlines on Monday, over a year after it was published.
The study found that the Earth tilted over two dozen inches in 17 years, but the cause isn't a mysterious asteroid impact, the sun's gravity or solar flares.
The planet continuing to tilt is because humans are pumping and moving an obscene amount of groundwater across the planet and redistributing it, according to the study's press release.
"Our study shows that among climate-related causes, the redistribution of groundwater actually has the largest impact on the drift of the rotational pole," said Ki-Weon Seo, the geophysicist with Seoul National University who led the study, in a statement.
The movement of this water is also resulting in sea levels rising.
Fact check:Misleading data used to claim sea levels down in Sydney and across globe
How much did the Earth tilt?
From 1993 to 2010, the earth is believed to have tilted 31.5 inches east, according to the study, which was published by Geophysical Research Letters.
This is because of how much groundwater was pumped out of the planet.
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Doesn't the Earth already have a tilt?
It does! While the tilt did already exist before, the study analyzed why the tilt increased further in the 17-year time span.
It's believed that when the Earth was young, "something big," about the size of the planet Mars, known as "Theia," hit it, according to NASA. The impact was so massive that it threw our planet off its center.
That is why the North and South Poles will never be perfectly straight and will always be on an axis.
It's also thought that this impact is what led to the creation of our moon.
USA TODAY
Earth tilted, but it had nothing to do with weird space phenomena and everything to do with how people are pumping groundwater and shipping it across the planet, a study found.
The findings of a study from June 2023 are making headlines on Monday, over a year after it was published.
The study found that the Earth tilted over two dozen inches in 17 years, but the cause isn't a mysterious asteroid impact, the sun's gravity or solar flares.
The planet continuing to tilt is because humans are pumping and moving an obscene amount of groundwater across the planet and redistributing it, according to the study's press release.
"Our study shows that among climate-related causes, the redistribution of groundwater actually has the largest impact on the drift of the rotational pole," said Ki-Weon Seo, the geophysicist with Seoul National University who led the study, in a statement.
The movement of this water is also resulting in sea levels rising.
Fact check:Misleading data used to claim sea levels down in Sydney and across globe
How much did the Earth tilt?
From 1993 to 2010, the earth is believed to have tilted 31.5 inches east, according to the study, which was published by Geophysical Research Letters.
This is because of how much groundwater was pumped out of the planet.
Get the Israel-Hamas War newsletter in your inbox.
Doesn't the Earth already have a tilt?
It does! While the tilt did already exist before, the study analyzed why the tilt increased further in the 17-year time span.
It's believed that when the Earth was young, "something big," about the size of the planet Mars, known as "Theia," hit it, according to NASA. The impact was so massive that it threw our planet off its center.
That is why the North and South Poles will never be perfectly straight and will always be on an axis.
It's also thought that this impact is what led to the creation of our moon.
Why is the Earth's tilt important?
The Earth's tilt is the reason for the seasons, stated NASA. So spring, summer, winter and fall would not exist without it.
"Throughout the year, different parts of Earth receive the Sun's most direct rays," NASA's website stated. "So, when the North Pole tilts toward the Sun, it's summer in the Northern Hemisphere. And when the South Pole tilts toward the Sun, it's winter in the Northern Hemisphere."
The tilt is also why the southern and northern hemisphere will never experience the same season at the same time. Meaning that when it's summer in Australia, it's winter in the U.S., according to Arizona State University.
While the shifting tilt won't affect the seasons, it could impact climate, Surendra Adhikari, a research scientist from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said in a statement. Adhikari was not involved in the 2023 study.
How much water was redistributed?
Using climate models, scientists previously estimated that 2,150 gigatons of groundwater, about .24 inches of sea level rise, was pumped and redistributed during the time period the study looked at.
One gigaton alone equals a billion metric tons or 2.2 trillion pounds, according to NASA.
To give an estimate on how grand the measurement of the water is, imagine if every person in the world stepped on a scale at the same time. The entire human population would weigh around 632 billion pounds, according to Huff Post.
One gigaton of the water that was distributed weighs more than three times the weight of every person on Earth combined.
Using climate models, scientists previously estimated that 2,150 gigatons of groundwater, about .24 inches of sea level rise, was pumped and redistributed during the time period the study looked at.
One gigaton alone equals a billion metric tons or 2.2 trillion pounds, according to NASA.
To give an estimate on how grand the measurement of the water is, imagine if every person in the world stepped on a scale at the same time. The entire human population would weigh around 632 billion pounds, according to Huff Post.
One gigaton of the water that was distributed weighs more than three times the weight of every person on Earth combined.
'Unexplained cause:' How did researchers discover the effects of moving groundwater?
In the study, "researchers modeled the observed changes in the drift of Earth’s rotational pole and the movement of water," the press release stated. "First, with only ice sheets and glaciers considered, and then adding in different scenarios of groundwater redistribution."
The model only reflected what was happening to Earth's tilt when researchers took groundwater redistribution into account, according to the press release. Without those calculations, the model's tilt was off by 31 inches.
In the 17 years that were analyzed, researchers found that the tilt drifted 1.7 inches each year.
It wasn't until 2016 that researchers discovered water's ability to change the planet's rotation, according to the press release. Adhikari is the researcher who published the study on how water distribution affected Earth.
However, the exact way groundwater affected the planet was not explored until this study began.
“I’m very glad to find the unexplained cause of the rotation pole drift,” Seo said in a statement. “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.”
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