Friday, 23 April 2021

I Can Feel the Earth Move!

The Earth's axis of rotation is not fixed but now humans are moving it (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/apr/23/climate-crisis-has-shifted-the-earths-axis-study-shows). Geographic North and South, are where the axis of rotation intersects with the surface. There have been big changes in the axis location since the 1990s. This has been caused by the melting of hundreds of billions of tonnes of ice each year, as glaciers decline. This tilting of the axis is, of course, ultimately a consequence of anthropogenic climate change. The axis is shifting in an Easterly direction and 4 metres of shift have occurred since 1980. The rate of movement has sped up markedly since 1995.

2 comments:

Sue Summerhayes said...

Good grief.
When will there be good news ?

Paul Brain said...

Not today!

Birder's Bonus 241

Noted a Curlew ( Numenius arquata ) on the Loughor estuary at Bynea.