Galt's Gulch

Humans changing Earth's rotational axis

Posted by $ nickursis 8 years ago to Science
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So it appears we keep committing horrid environmental crimes...really..
SOURCE URL: http://www.businessinsider.com/climate-change-shifting-earth-rotation-2016-4

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  • Posted by ObjectiveAnalyst 8 years ago
    Hello nickursis,
    I don't think so.
    What came first the changing axis or humans? Natural history tells the story.

    Sumatran quake sped up Earth's rotation:
    "The change was caused by a shift of mass towards the planet's centre, as the Indian Ocean's heavy tectonic plate lurched underneath Indonesia's one, say researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. This caused the globe to rotate faster, in the same way that a spinning figure-skater accelerates by tucking in her arms.
    The blast literally rocked the world on its axis, add Richard Gross and his NASA colleagues. They estimate that Earth now tilts by an extra 2.5 centimeters in the wake of the jolt." http://www.nature.com/news/2004/04122...

    Japan Earthquake Shortened Days, Increased Earth's Wobble:
    "The magnitude 9.0 earthquake that struck Japan last Friday was powerful enough to shorten Earth's day by 1.8 microseconds and throw an extra 6.7 inches (17 centimeters) into the planet's wobble, scientists say."
    http://news.nationalgeographic.com/ne...

    The earth has always been changing its distribution of mass. Our world no longer has a Pangaea. Earthquakes have been occurring since before man and will continue long after.

    Some are not happy unless they can blame someone... anyone. The Earth does not hear their cries.
    Respectfully,
    O.A.
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    • Posted by $ nickursis 8 years ago
      Agreed, they conveniently leave out any mention of any previous history, cycles or any geologic data to put it in context, simply wild claims with blame that has no basis in fact.
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  • Posted by CircuitGuy 8 years ago
    I think some of the comments confuse the magnetic north pole with the axis of rotation north pole. The axis of rotation precesses like a spinning top. The magnetic poles reverse more infrequently, and I think it's unrelated to the earth's precession.

    It seems hard to believe that weight distribution on the surface of the earth could affect the magnetic poles, which are generated by iron deep in the earth. The period of the cycle of glaciation and deglaciation is on the 20k year range. If glaciation affected the geomagnetic field, I would expect we would see evidence of this from past glacial minima. It would be very cool to learn surprising evidence that ice cover on the crust does affect the geomagnetic field.

    The facts that a) human activities are speeding up this period of deglaciation that we live in now and that b) some people go through mental gymnastics to deny that undesirable fact are the least interesting part of this story.
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    • Posted by $ nickursis 8 years ago
      I am more inclined to think that changes in mass, change vertical deflection internally and can cause shifts in the internal composition of the mantel and core. Changes in iron core location would tend to cause the magnetic field generated to twist, so while the cause is related to the melting of the ice, possibly, there is no conclusive proof of it.

      From their summary:

      We also find that the TWS variability fully explains the decadal-like changes in polar motion observed during the study period, thus offering a clue to resolving the long-standing quest for determining the origins of decadal oscillations. This newly discovered link between polar motion and global-scale TWS variability has broad implications for the study of past and future climate.

      Translated: This may explain how it happens. It does not denote cause, since there is no established links between something that occurs repeatedly and a single event cause (man made climate change). They are connecting monkees and humans and saying they are the same. Not gonna happen..
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      • Posted by CircuitGuy 8 years ago
        This is way outside my field. It sounds like it's saying researchers in this field know that the magnetic field changes in a 10-year pattern. It sounds like they're saying the pattern has changed, and maybe it's related to the recent movement of terrestrial water storage. This is apparently of interest to geologists and climatologists.

        My reading of the BI article is that, despite the title, the research has very little to do with human activities affecting climate. Because the prospect human activities affecting the climate in costly ways is scary, the title writer chose to use "humans" as the first word. Oddly, some people see the headline (the one unrelated to the actual research) and it gets their attention because they're on a mission to deny the fact that billions of us living an affluent life powered by burning things has any effect on the climate. It doesn't matter that the research was about an unrelated geological topic.

        The researchers get their esoteric work reported on in mainstream news outlets, but the price of that is they it's reported wrong, focusing on a small, tangential aspect of their work.
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        • Posted by $ nickursis 8 years ago
          The problem I see is the attachment of causation and effect. They do have some factual data to support their theory, but to assume it is due to "man made climate change" when there is not even a good connection, is not science. It goes back to the problem of "is the climate changing because of man, just because (i.e. natural variation)" I have seen several articles that show CO2 was much higher in the past and that it dies not precede climate change, but is a post effect. So, you get to question their assumptions and conclusions.
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  • Posted by $ jbrenner 8 years ago
    The position of the North Pole changes every 26,000 years or so. You may recall the epic fear caused by the ending of the Mayan calendar in late 2012. This celestial alignment has been known to shift the position of the poles.
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    • Posted by $ nickursis 8 years ago
      I am aware of the common theories about it. I am more amazed at how they can just whip up a whole new world wide crisis and daisy chain it through the loss of ice due to the evil warming ONLY caused by the evil white man. There is no opportunity lost to try to build panic and "run for the hills" about something. We know there is climate change and we do not know it is caused by man, but happens on a regular basis due to natural variation. What manipulative idiots.
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      • Posted by $ Abaco 8 years ago
        I had to endure yet another massive news report on the tv last night about the zika virus showing mangled babies. Be very afraid! These people have no shame...
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