Earth’s rotation is tilting and its humans’ fault

You are most likely contributing to the earth’s shifting rotation tilting, just because you use your sink.

A study by researchers in South Korea found that the earth has rotated 31.5 inches in the past two decades thanks to groundwater pumping, Earth.com reported. “Our study shows that among climate-related causes, the redistribution of groundwater actually has the largest impact on the drift of the rotational pole,” Ki-Weon Seo, a geophysicist at Seoul National University, said.

The study estimates we’ve pumped more than 2,150 gigatons of groundwater for consumption and other uses. Most of that water winds up in the oceans, contributing to sea level rise.

The tilt of the axis for something as large as the planet usually doesn’t change, but the massive water shifts can affect it. Before this study, researchers thought the rotational shifts could be explained by melting glaciers and sea ice, according to Nature. Now they see that groundwater movement had an effect.

“I’m very glad to find the unexplained cause of the rotation pole drift,” Seo said. “On the other hand, as a resident of Earth and a father, I’m concerned and surprised that pumping groundwater is another source of sea-level rise,” said Seo.