The Earth’s axis changes due to water

We’re discovering new things about the Earth all the time – just as scientists recently discovered that water is slowly seeping from the surface, and people are only just now realizing that there’s a huge ocean hiding beneath the Earth’s crust.

Now, experts have found that the Earth’s axis appears to be moving for a reason no one expected.

Basically, the Earth’s tilt changes over time. A few years ago, scientists attributed this to global warming and the melting of the polar ice caps.

However, experts have published new research suggesting that groundwater extraction also plays a larger role than previously thought.

The Earth’s poles can move as ice sheets melt. However, groundwater depletion caused by irrigation can also cause the same thing.

iStock

While things are moving at a slow rate, with the North Pole gradually moving towards the UK, this phenomenon theoretically has the potential to change Earth’s seasons over time.

But the most disturbing thing is what was published by the new study Geophysical Research Letters It suggests about the way we consume the Earth’s natural resources – especially when it comes to using salt water on dried-up lands.

Ki-Wyun Seo of National University co-led the study. “The Earth’s spin pole actually shifts a lot. Our study shows that among climate-related causes, groundwater redistribution actually has the greatest impact on the drift of the spin pole,” she said in a statement.

This comes after scientists recently discovered that water is slowly seeping from the surface. The liquid falls below the descending tectonic plates, before eventually reaching the core after a 2,900-kilometre journey.

Although the process is slow, over billions of years it has formed a new surface between the molten metal in the outer core and the Earth’s outer mantle.

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