Environment
A Study Reveals Groundwater Pumping Tilting Earth’s Spin, Warns Could Impact Climate
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Groundwater pumping has shifted such a large mass of water that the Earth tilted nearly 80 centimetres east between 1993 and 2010 alone, which could impact our planet’s climate, according to a study.
The research, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, found that during the study period, the most water was redistributed in western North America and northwestern India.
Scientists have previously estimated humans pumped 2,150 gigatons of groundwater, equivalent to more than 6 millimetres of sea level rise, from 1993 to 2010. However, validating that estimate is difficult.
