study | The land deflection is 80 cm towards the east due to the continuous withdrawal of groundwater

Arab weather - Sinan Khalaf - serious consequences for the consumption of groundwater in the ground, which led to a deviation of 80 cm (31.5 inches) to the east between 1993 and 2010 only.

This recent study was revealed by the scientific journal "AGU", and based on climate models, scientists previously estimated that humans pumped 2,150 gigatonnes of groundwater, equivalent to more than 6 millimeters (0.24 inches) of sea level rise, in the period from 1993 to 2010, but validation of this estimate is difficult.

One approach studies the Earth's rotational pole, which is the point around which the planet orbits; As it moves through a process called polar motion; The position of the Earth's rotational pole changes relative to the crust.

The distribution of water on the planet affects how the mass is distributed; Which directly affects the Earth's rotation.

"The Earth's rotation pole actually shifts a lot," said Ki-wyun Seo, a geophysicist at Seoul National University, who led the study. "Our study shows that among the climate-related causes, groundwater redistribution actually has the greatest impact on pole drift." .

The ability of water to change the Earth's rotation was discovered in 2016, and so far the specific contribution of groundwater to these rotational changes has not been explored.

In the new study, published in the scientific journal Scitechdaily, the researchers modeled the observed changes in Earth's rotational pole drift and water movement, taking into account only ice sheets and glaciers, then adding different scenarios for groundwater redistribution.

Once the researchers included 2,150 gigatonnes of groundwater redistribution, the model deviated by 78.5 cm (31 in), or 4.3 cm (1.7 in), per year.

"I am very happy to find the unexplained cause of shaft drift," Seo said. "On the other hand, as a land-dweller and parent, I am concerned and amazed to see that groundwater pumping is another source of sea level rise."

"This is an amazing contribution, and definitely an important documentation," said Surendra Adhikari, a research scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who was not involved in the study.