Dec 10, 2024 07:29 PM
https://www.sciencefocus.com/planet-eart...ays-longer
EXCERPTS: The effects of climate change are pervasive [...] Joining the list is one of the most seismic findings to date: scientists have recently discovered that our greenhouse gas emissions are changing how Earth spins. The consequence? Earth’s days are getting longer, which could dramatically affect how we keep time in the coming years.
[...] A major consequence of this warming is the melting of vast ice regions at the North and South Poles. Switzerland has lost 10 per cent of its glacial mass in the past two years. Antarctica loses 150 billion tonnes of ice annually, while Greenland loses 270 billion tonnes.
While many are (rightfully) concerned about how this melting affects coastal regions, Soja and his team asked a different question: how does this huge redistribution of mass affect Earth on a larger scale? And in a recent study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA (PNAS), they answered that question.
“As the ice melts, Earth’s mass is being redistributed from the polar regions to the oceans,” Soja says. “This means that Earth has become more oblate, flattened even, with mass further away from the axis of rotation.” (MORE - missing details)
EXCERPTS: The effects of climate change are pervasive [...] Joining the list is one of the most seismic findings to date: scientists have recently discovered that our greenhouse gas emissions are changing how Earth spins. The consequence? Earth’s days are getting longer, which could dramatically affect how we keep time in the coming years.
[...] A major consequence of this warming is the melting of vast ice regions at the North and South Poles. Switzerland has lost 10 per cent of its glacial mass in the past two years. Antarctica loses 150 billion tonnes of ice annually, while Greenland loses 270 billion tonnes.
While many are (rightfully) concerned about how this melting affects coastal regions, Soja and his team asked a different question: how does this huge redistribution of mass affect Earth on a larger scale? And in a recent study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA (PNAS), they answered that question.
“As the ice melts, Earth’s mass is being redistributed from the polar regions to the oceans,” Soja says. “This means that Earth has become more oblate, flattened even, with mass further away from the axis of rotation.” (MORE - missing details)