Scientists from ETH Zurich have discovered that climate change is causing water from melting glaciers to move towards the equator, resulting in a lengthening of Earth's days by milliseconds, according to Tech.
Impact on Earth's Rotation
The study, published in the "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences," highlights how the redistribution of mass due to climate change affects Earth's rotation.
"It's like a figure skater spinning - initially with arms close to the body and then extending them," explains Professor Benedikt Soja, the study's lead author.
As the mass moves away from the axis, the rotation slows, a principle known as the conservation of angular momentum.
While the changes are minimal, measured in milliseconds, they could eventually surpass the slowdown caused by ocean tides over billions of years.
Shift in Earth's Axis
The research also reveals that these mass redistributions cause shifts in Earth's rotational axis. Previously, scientists observed that the axis points shift by about 10 meters every century, attributing this to internal Earth processes.
However, this study is the first to show that glacier water migration significantly influences these shifts. "For the first time, we present a comprehensive explanation of the long-term changes in Earth's rotational axis," Soja explains.
Minimal Effects on Daily Life
Further analysis indicates that the migration of water and internal Earth processes interact with each other. "Climate change causes shifts in Earth's rotational axis. This, due to the conservation of angular momentum, affects the dynamics of Earth's core," Soja elaborates.
While these effects are minor and not alarming for daily human activities, they could be crucial for space exploration. Small deviations in Earth's rotational dynamics can significantly impact space mission trajectories, potentially leading to considerable misses when targeting distant planets.
