Is This Really Earthshaking?

[Ulu]

Or just more alarmism?

Several sites I see have reported that the earth is tilted 31.5 inches. I’m sure some people will think that this is degrees and start freaking out but frankly it is not much of a motion.

I thought the world wobbled at least this much!

The circumference of the earth is approximately 24,000 miles unless it’s changed since I was a child. Divide that into 31 inches and you get 31/(24000x5280x12) or about 0.0000000207th of the earth’s circumfrence.

Again, doesn’t the earth wobble & jiggle at least that much?
It’s not a perfect sphere, it doesn’t have uniform density, it’s partially made of different density liquids, some entrained and some free, and lots of different solids in random distributions.

To me, 31.5 inches seems extremely stable.

 

[Ulu]

I’m just not sure why anyone is concerned.

 

[esoxlucius]

Human impact on Earth's tilt leaves researchers 'surprised and concerned'

Groundwater extracted for irrigation and other human activities displaced 2,150 gigatons of water between 1993 and 2010.

www.livescience.com

 

[esoxlucius]

It seems humans, surprise surprise, have an effect on almost everything, lol.

The earths natural tilting is quite small and the additional man made tilt is also small.

Worse case scenario if it tilted too much then the seasons would change slightly, but we'd probably blame that on climate change anyway!

I'm not worried.

 

[jjohnwm]

I'm shocked...shocked, I tell you!...that two respected members of MFK like you gentlemen are not taking this more seriously. These researchers have worked their data-input fingers to the bone, amassing and collating and analyzing this info so that they could use the most dreaded and fear-inspiring phrase in all of science: "new research suggests..."

Of course, research in itself doesn't suggest anything. It merely presents information in a fashion that allows one to read it and then be led to the conclusion that the researchers have decided they want you to reach.

It is your civic duty as upstanding pillars of society to tremble in fear when a bombshell like this is dropped upon you. Have you no sense of duty to your fellow man? You're supposed to be scared. So...be scared, dammit!

 

[Ulu]

I thought we were blaming this on 3-Gorges Dam? Now it’s from pumping groundwater?

California was an inland ocean 600 years ago. Mostly it drained away by itself, and then farmers pumped the rest dry.

I’d imagine that had some minor effect.

But in my mind, most of earth’s water is inaccessible to us. Trapped in waterlogged stone. I think there’s so much water that our best efforts in redistributing it would be…well miniscule.

Like even less than 31” in 24,000 miles.

How can we pin this down to man’s activities, when we know how the earth is slowly churning deep inside?

 

[jjohnwm]

Ulu , you live a comfortable life in a comfortable part of the world. There is a segment of humanity which firmly believes that you are responsible for every bad thing that happens to anyone, anywhere in the world, and they want you to take responsibility for it.

If there's not enough bad stuff occurring at any given time to suit them, it's necessary to manufacture more bad stuff...much of it imaginary...to further pummel you with guilt. It's time to face the music.

 

[Chet E.]

I enjoy fascinating ideas like this redistribution of water... Yes, it's true.
.
Little events make a big difference.
I flush the toilet.
But imagine if all 8 Billion of us did so at the same time.
.
I wonder if it is accurate to suggest that no water returns into an aquafer when some is removed?
.
In 1960 Joseph Kittinger rode a balloon up to the edge of space, 102,800 feet (31Km), then stepped out of the gondola. It seems like a long way up but in scale to the 12 inch globe on my dresser the jump was less than the thickness of a credit card.

 

[Chet E.]

Yet, there is hope...

This Billion-Dollar Desalination Plant Could Help California Survive Extreme Droughts

Hammered by an unending drought, San Diego County is building an enormous plant to turn Pacific sea water into fresh water.

www.popularmechanics.com

For the past decade Californians have been pumping water out of the ocean onto dry land at a furious rate. They hoped to bring an end to drought, little did they know they have been fixing the tilt of the Earth as well.