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Excessive Groundwater Pumping Has Shifted The Earth’s Axis
The Earth is said to be in the Goldilocks Zone—the distance from the Sun at which water can stay liquid. This position has helped life flourish on Earth. It now seems almost counter-intuitive that our drastic human activities are tampering with the positioning of the Earth. In a recent study by the American Geophysical Union, it has been found that we have pumped so much groundwater in the last two decades that the Earth’s axis has shifted by 80 cm, or 31.5 inches. The location from which groundwater has been pumped affects the shift, with more shifts being noticed at mid-latitudes. Pumping groundwater can also cause the level of seawater to rise, a problem which already threatens to wipe out major coastal areas.
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