Global warming causes unprecedented slowdown in Earth's rotation

Austrian and Swiss scientists have recorded a record slowdown in the Earth's rotation. This phenomenon is caused by global warming and melting glaciers. The BBC reported this on Sunday, citing a study.

According to scientists, as climate change accelerates, the melting of the planet's ice caps is accelerating, releasing large amounts of water that enters the oceans and flows through them toward the equator. This filling of water bodies is said to displace mass from the planet's poles and gradually slow its rotation. Scientists have concluded that the current rate of day lengthening is approximately 1.33 milliseconds per 100 years, which is unprecedented in recorded history.

"Such a shift in day length requires a staggering redistribution of mass: on the order of 1,000 gigatons. To imagine such a quantity of liquid, imagine an entire cube of ice... it would be 10 kilometers high, taller than Everest," the television corporation quoted Dr. Mostafa Kiani Shahvandi, a co-author of the study, as saying. He explained that the change in Earth's rotational energy is equivalent in planetary force to a magnitude 9.0 earthquake.

It is noted that about 2 million years ago, the rate of slowing of Earth's rotation was close to today's rates, but this was an exceptional case of the formation of fragile ice sheets and a natural surge in carbon dioxide. The consequences of human activity, according to scientists, have been consistent with the most unprecedented events in history for over a century.

The researchers emphasized that, from a practical standpoint, the shift in the length of the day could impact the accuracy of spacecraft navigation within the Solar System, as well as GPS navigation. "The most important conclusion is that human influence on Earth systems has become so profound that we are now changing the Earth's rotation itself," emphasized study co-author Dr. Benedikt Soja.