Why is Earth's axis shifting?

The Christian Science Monitor Fri, Apr 8 12:38 PM PDT 

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The Earth’s axis is shifting, and scientists now think they have deeper insight into the causes. While previous work has considered the impact of Greenland’s melting ice sheet, this latest study, published Friday in the journal Science Advances, also considers Antarctica’s ice sheet and changes in global hydrology. One of the most important implications of this work is in testing climate change models, looking back at decades of data to see whether dramatic changes such as the loss of Greenland’s ice sheet are likely to be natural phenomena or human-induced. "Study of Earth’s rotation is one of the oldest scientific endeavors known to mankind," says the project’s principal investigator Erik Ivins of California Institute of Techology's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in a telephone interview with The Christian Science Monitor. ...

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Melting Ice Sheets Are Literally Making The Earth Tip Over

Refinery29 17 hours ago 

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The study analyzed satellite and land measurement data from 2003 to 2015 and applied it to how and why the Earth moves the way it does. While it's normal for the axis to move around a little bit, the recent shift has been more than expected. According to the study, since the year 2000, the planet’s spin axis has wandered away from its normal range to the tune of about 75 degrees eastward. The tilt is caused by shifts in water distribution, thanks to the more than 396 trillion kilograms of ice that Greenland and west Antarctica lose per year. That, plus the 74 trillion kilograms that east Antarctica gains annually, puts more weight distribution towards the east, causing the planet to wobble on ...

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