Dams around the world hold so much water they've shifted Earth's poles, new research shows
Dams around the world hold so much water they've shifted Earth's poles, new research shows
Dam construction since 1835 has caused Earth's poles to "wander" away from the planet's rotational axis because of the massive weight of water reservoirs.
The construction of thousands of dams since 1835 has caused Earth's poles to wobble, new research suggests.
Scientists found that large dams hold so much water they redistribute mass around the globe, shifting the position of Earth's crust relative to the mantle, the planet's middle layer.
Earth's mantle is gooey, and the crust forms a solid shell that can slide around on top of it. Weight on the crust that causes it to shift relative to the mantle also shifts the location of Earth's poles, the researchers said.
Storing water behind dams caused Earth's poles to move a total distance of 3.7 feet (1.1 m) over the study period, the authors of the new research found.
I can't say I'm convinced? There are thousands of reasons why the poles could shift. But freshwater makes up such a small fraction of a tiny percentage of the mass on earth that I can't see it have that large of an effect, especially when only a fraction of a small percentage of the freshwater is being held by dams.