Bhubaneswar: The earth now seems turning a hotter ball. India is alos growing hotter. The year's first heat wave has come early and it readies to strike Odisha before the Holi Day.
Moreover, the news in vogue in teh climated world for teh last three years has been that the year 2023 had been the warmest year, globally and in India, too.
Year 2024 had become the warmest year in history.
And the prediction now is, 2025 will be going to the warmest year on record in history, both globally and in India.
Amidst the new history written on the world climate calendar, a study has given an interesting conclusion.
According to the study published in Geophysical Letters, between 1993 and 2010, excessive groundwater pumping by humans shifted the Earth’s rotational poles by 80 centimeters (31.5 inches) eastward.
The research further added that this redistribution of water mass—equivalent to 2,150 gigatons extracted globally—also contributed to 6 millimeters of sea-level rise, confirming earlier estimates that lacked observational validation.
KEY FINDINGS OF STUDY
Polar Motion Mechanism:
Earth’s spin axis shifts when mass distribution changes, akin to a spinning top wobbling. Groundwater extraction redistributes water from underground reservoirs to oceans, altering this balance.
Modeling Insights:
Researchers isolated groundwater’s impact by comparing climate models (accounting for ice melt) with observed polar motion data. Only when including the 2,150-gigaton estimate did models match observations, resolving a 78.48 cm discrepancy.
Drift Rate:
Groundwater extraction caused poles to drift 4.36 cm/year during the study period, surpassing other climate-related factors like ice melt.
WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE?
Most extraction occurred in mid-latitude regions such as North America, northern India (Punjab and Haryana), where groundwater removal maximally influences polar motion.
IMPACT MITIGATED
The study said since the drift much geography have turned hotspot, mitigating extraction here could slow the drift, but sustained efforts over decades are needed.
Te study highlights groundwater’s underappreciated role in Earth’s geophysical dynamics, reversing its effects requires long-term global water management strategies.
EASTWARD HO IMPACT
As per studies, if earth’s rotational pole shift more eastwards, as is the case now, the main impact will be on seasonal patterns. India and all countries in the northern hemisphere will be experiencing significant seasonal variations that include hotter and longer summer.
The IMD data shows summers in India have bee increasingly becoming hotter and longer, and the winters in the country growing shorter and more warmer, especially during the last 3-year period.
