Climate Crisis Has Shifted the Earth’s Axis, Study Shows

Since 1980 the position of the poles has moved about four meters, largely due to massive glacier melt after the ’90s.

By: Damian Carrington ,; TheGuardian

Published: April 28, 2021

The Earth, as seen from space — The Earth as seen from the International Space Station on March 3, 2016.

Part of the Series

Covering Climate Now

The massive melting of glaciers as a result of global heating has caused marked shifts in the Earth’s axis of rotation since the 1990s, research has shown. It demonstrates the profound impact humans are having on the planet, scientists said.

The planet’s geographic north and south poles are the point where its axis of rotation intersects the surface, but they are not fixed. Changes in how the Earth’s mass is distributed around the planet cause the axis, and therefore the poles, to move.

In the past, only natural factors such as ocean currents and the convection of hot rock in the deep Earth contributed to the drifting position of the poles. But the new research shows that since the 1990s, the loss of hundreds of billions of tonnes of ice a year into the oceans resulting from the climate crisis has caused the poles to move in new directions.

The scientists found the direction of polar drift shifted from southward to eastward in 1995 and that the average speed of drift from 1995 to 2020 was 17 times faster than from 1981 to 1995.

Since 1980, the position of the poles has moved about 4 metres in distance.

“The accelerated decline [in water stored on land] resulting from glacial ice melting is the main driver of the rapid polar drift after the 1990s,” concluded the team, led by Shanshan Deng, from the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Gravity data from the Grace satellite, launched in 2002, had been used to link glacial melting to movements of the pole in 2005 and 2012, both following increases in ice losses. But Deng’s research breaks new ground by extending the link to before the satellite’s launch, showing human activities have been shifting the poles since the 1990s, almost three decades ago.

The research, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, showed glacial losses accounted for most of the shift, but it is likely that the pumping up of groundwater also contributed to the movements.

Groundwater is stored under land but, once pumped up for drinking or agriculture, most eventually flows to sea, redistributing its weight around the world. In the past 50 years, humanity has removed 18 trillion tonnes of water from deep underground reservoirs without it being replaced.

Vincent Humphrey, at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, and not involved in the new research said it showed how human activities have redistributed huge amounts of water around the planet: “It tells you how strong this mass change is — it’s so big that it can change the axis of the Earth.” However, the movement of the Earth’s axis is not large enough to affect daily life, he said: it could change the length of a day, but only by milliseconds.

Prof Jonathan Overpeck, at the University of Arizona, US, told the Guardian previously that changes to the Earth’s axis highlighted “how real and profoundly large an impact humans are having on the planet”.

Some scientists argue that the scale of this impact means a new geological epoch — the Anthropocene — needs to be declared. Since the mid-20th century, there has been a marked acceleration of carbon dioxide emissions and sea level rise, the destruction of wildlife and the transformation of land by farming, deforestation and development.

Noam Chomsky and Robert Pollin: Green New Deal Is Essential for Human Survival

World-renowned dissident Noam Chomsky and economist Robert Pollin discuss the state of the planet on the 51st Earth Day.

By: C.J. Polychroniou ,; Truthout

Interview

Environment & Health

Resuscitating Normalcy Will Kill Us. What We Need Is a Just Recovery.

What kind of world are we trying to imagine into being?

By: Kelly Hayes ,; Truthout

News

Environment & Health

Scientists Are Stunned by How Rapidly Ice Is Melting in the Arctic

One researcher offered a bleak prognosis: “We’re not going to stop this train wreck.”

By: Dahr Jamail ,; Truthout

Latest Stories

News Analysis

Environment & Health

Unprecedented Climate-Fueled Flooding May Force a Political Reckoning in Brazil

Experts say the floods may mark an inflection point in the way Brazilians think about climate policy and adaptation.

By: Zoya Teirstein ,; Grist

News

Environment & Health

Public Health Experts Raise Concerns About State of Bird Flu Testing

A lack of data and surveillance of the H5N1 virus is worrying some public health experts about cases going unnoticed.

By: Nicole Karlis ,; Salon

News Analysis

Environment & Health

UN Conference on Plastic Pollution Crisis Dominated by Industry Reps

The negotiations for a plastics treaty appeared to lack rules on conflict of interest or transparency.

By: Lisa Song ,; ProPublica

News Analysis

Environment & Health

Tribal Communities Face Severe Risks of Flooding Due to Climate Change

"The flooding risks to communities are increasing faster than officials are dealing with them,” a policy analyst said.

By: Mark Trahant &; Stewart Huntington ,; ICT

Op-Ed

Environment & Health

Genocide Fuels Climate Crisis. The Fate of Palestine Shapes Our Climate Future.

The Palestinian struggle for survival is also a global struggle against a potentially horrific future for humanity.

By: David Klein ,; Truthout

News

Environment & Health

Sense of Urgency About Climate Change Is Declining Among Youth, Poll Finds

Released amid record-breaking temperatures and rising seas, the survey reports an alarming decline in perceived urgency.

By: Mike Ludwig ,; Truthout

News

Environment & Health

Advocates Worry “Forever Chemicals” Cleanup May Reinforce Environmental Racism

These hazardous substances may be sent to commercial incinerators that are predominantly found in Black communities.

By: Adam Mahoney ,; CapitalB

News

Environment & Health

Parasites, Often Miscast as Villains, Are Ecologically Critical — and Declining

Until recently, researchers had no idea climate change was wiping out important parasites.

By: Jesse Nichols ,; Grist

News

Environment & Health

Scientists Warn Climate Change Is to Blame for Brazil’s Worst Floods in 80 Years

"The era of extreme climate effects is here," one environmental economics expert warned.

By: Chris Walker ,; Truthout

News

Environment & Health

Veterans Exposed to Agent Orange Are Battling Cancer Without VA Compensation

Vets exposed to the chemical at US bases are still waiting for the same benefits as their peers who fought in Vietnam.

By: Hannah Norman &; Patricia Kime ,; KFFHealthNews

Sections

Latest

The Era of Lean Production Is Coming to an End. What Does That Mean for Workers?

How One Student Gaza Encampment Built a Model for Deaf Accessibility

Mike Johnson Says He Won’t Push Federal Abortion Ban. Advocates Don’t Buy It.

Unprecedented Climate-Fueled Flooding May Force a Political Reckoning in Brazil

More

Climate Crisis Has Shifted the Earth’s Axis, Study Shows

Part of the Series

Covering Climate Now

Menu