Climate change shifts Earth's axis

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - New research shows that glacier melt, a result of global warming, has caused significant shifts in Earth's axis of rotation since the 1990s.

The geographic North and South Poles are the points where our planet's axis of rotation intersects the surface, but they are not fixed. Changes in the distribution of Earth's mass cause the axis, and thus the poles, to shift.

In the past, only natural factors, such as ocean currents and heat transfer from molten rock deep within the planet, contributed to changes in the poles' position.

However, new research shows that since the 1990s, the loss of about one hundred billion tons of ice annually due to climate change has also influenced the shift of the poles.

The position of the poles has shifted by about 4 meters since 1980

Scientists have determined that the direction of polar motion shifted from south to east in 1995, and the average speed of its movement from 1995 to 2020 was 17 times faster than from 1981 to 1995. The position of the poles has shifted by about 4 meters since 1980, The Guardian reports.

Polar motion is a geological phenomenon most often caused by changes in the flow of liquid iron in Earth's outer core, resulting in changes in the orientation of Earth's magnetic field, and thus the position of the magnetic North and South Poles.

"The accelerated decline of surface water reserves, resulting from glacier melt, is the main driver of the accelerated polar motion after the 1990s," concluded scientists from the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Groundwater pumping is also a problem

The research showed that glacier melt caused the largest part of the shift, but groundwater pumping also contributed to the axis shift.

Groundwater is naturally located below the surface, but once pumped and used for drinking or agriculture, it mostly ends up in the sea, leading to a redistribution of its mass across the Earth's surface.

"This study shows how powerful this global change is, so much so that it can change the Earth's axis. However, this shift is not large enough to affect our daily lives. It could change the length of the day, but only by a few milliseconds," said climatologist Vincent Hambry from the University of Zurich in Switzerland.

Some experts believe that due to such impacts, the scientific community should declare a new geological epoch – the Anthropocene. This name refers to a geological period that began about 200 years ago and is marked by the significant impact of human activity on the ecosphere.

Since the mid-20th century, there has been a sharp increase in greenhouse gas emissions and sea levels, a decline in wildlife populations, and the transformation of land through agriculture and deforestation.