According to a study, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters groundwater pumping has shifted a large mass of water making the Earth tilt about 80 centimetres east between the years 1993 and 2010 which can affect the climate of our planet.
Scientists state that earlier humans had pumped 2,150 gigatons of groundwater, equivalent to more than 6 millimetres of sea level rise, between 1993 to 2010.
Ki-Weon Seo, Geophysicist at Seoul National University, South Korea said, “Earth's rotational pole changes a lot. Our study shows that among climate-related causes, the redistribution of groundwater actually has the largest impact on the drift of the rotational pole.”
The fact that water can actually change Earth's rotation was discovered by scientists in 2016. Before that only ice sheets and glaciers were considered while measuring earth’s movements but now groundwater is also being considered as a big factor.
As per researchers, even though attempts are being made worldwide to slow groundwater depletion rates, it will only show results if it is continued dedicatedly with sustainable methods for decades.
Surendra Adhikari, a research scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, US, said, "This is a nice contribution and an important documentation for sure.
Adhikari who published the 2016 paper on water redistribution impacting rotational drift also added, "They have quantified the role of groundwater pumping on polar motion, and it's pretty significant."
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