Groundwater extraction across the globe over the past 30 years has caused the Earth’s poles to drift by 80 cm.
For about two decades, humans have drilled and pumped so much water from the ground that it has caused the poles to shift nearly one meter, effectively altering the Earth’s axis. This displacement is equivalent to the movement of the polar regions due to melting ice in Greenland during the same period.
The Earth’s axis has shifted due to human activity. (Photo: Shutterstock).
“People will not perceive the wobbling or drifting of the Earth,” said Clark Wilson, a researcher at the University of Texas at Austin, who modeled the movement of the poles.
Because the Earth is not a perfect sphere, it wobbles by several meters each year. The poles also drift due to changes in mass distribution across the planet, such as seasonal water movement.
“There are several factors contributing to polar drift. Groundwater extraction and reservoir filling, as well as climate change causing glaciers to melt and sea levels to rise, all contribute to this drift,” Wilson explained.
It is estimated that approximately 2,100 gigatons of groundwater were pumped to the surface from 1993 to 2010. According to modeling results, the poles have drifted about 80 cm due to the movement of this groundwater from underground to the surface. Large aquifers located at mid-latitudes have the most significant impact on polar drift. This is why groundwater extraction and pumping strongly affect the position of the poles, Wilson further explained.
The research team noted that this does not cause any specific consequences regarding the change in the length of days or seasons; however, the precise location of the Earth’s axis shift will affect the functioning of GPS technologies.
This discovery demonstrates how much water humans have been pumping, according to Manoochehr Shirzaei, a researcher at Virginia Tech. “The exact number is not really what matters. What is important is that the massive volume is significant enough to impact the Earth’s polar drift,” Shirzaei stated.
This expert also added that humans are extracting even more groundwater in the 21st century to cope with drought conditions caused by climate change and to cultivate various crops in arid regions.
