You won't believe what's happening to Earth's rotation
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You know, sometimes you read something, and you just have to blink a few times and read it again, once? This week's Wildcard really got me. We're talking about climate change, sure, but in a way that just feels… *different*. Scientists are saying that the ice melting from human-driven climate change is actually slowing down the Earth's rotation. Oba nä! It's not a lot, mind you, like a millisecond per century, but still. The planet itself is reacting. That's something, isn't it?
### What's Really Happening
So, here's the deal: all that meltwater from the glaciers and ice sheets, especially in places like Greenland and Antarctica, is making its way to the oceans. When this happens, the mass of water on Earth is redistributed. Think of a figure skater once. When they pull their arms in, they spin faster, right? When they push them out, they slow down. It's kind of like that, but with the Earth and its water.
* More water in the oceans means the Earth's mass is distributed a bit differently. * This slight shift in mass affects the planet's moment of inertia. * The result? A tiny, tiny slowing of the Earth's spin.
Scientists say this change is big enough that it's going to affect how they calibrate atomic clocks, which are incredibly precise. This slowing is apparently at a rate not seen in 3.6 million years. I mean, we worry about the Wheat Kings making the playoffs, and meanwhile, the whole planet is just… slowing down, once. It just puts things in perspective.
Here in Brandon, we're thinking about harvest, about the Assiniboine River levels, about our community. We know about floods, we understand the power of water, and we've built things like the Red River Floodway to protect our homes and livelihoods. But to think that water, just from melting ice, is changing how the entire planet spins? It's a lot to take in, isn't it? Makes you think twice about that next plastic bottle.
Leah Fehr-Broesky, MiTL Sports Desk, Brandon.
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