Climate change has slowed the Earth’s rotation and affected polar drift

Scientists from Switzerland, with the support of NASA, have for the first time created the most complete model of changes in the Earth’s speed and polar drift depending on many factors. This work would be impossible without the use of machine learning, which will make it possible in the future to give the most accurate forecast about the position of the Earth in outer space. This is important for space flights, because every centimeter of error at the start will result in hundreds of meters of deviation from the goal of the journey.

The slowing down of the Earth’s rotation makes the days longer. Image source: AI generation Kandinsky 3.0/3DNews

From previous work, we already know that the melting of polar ice leads to an outflow of water towards the equator. This collects mass there and, as it were, thickens the Earth, which is similar to the actions of a figure skater who slows down his rotation like a top with his arms extended to the sides. Using AI, scientists from ETH Zurich have found that these climate impacts on the Earth’s behavior are much deeper than expected.

A change in the center of mass of our planet also leads to a shift in the Earth’s rotation axis (to the drift of the poles) and to processes in the mantle, core and liquid metal layer enveloping the inner core of the Earth. Human influence on climate has a complex impact on the planet that we now have to live with. And even its position in outer space. Moreover, over time, the anthropogenic climatic impact of humans on the speed of rotation of the Earth will be higher than the impact on this parameter of the Moon, which is responsible for tidal braking of our planet.

According to astronomical observations since the beginning of the last century, the Earth’s rotation axis is gradually shifting. Over a hundred years, the poles shifted by about 10 m. The model presented by the Swiss exactly matched the observational results, which promises to work also in the case of forecasts. In the future, this will help plan spacecraft launches to distant and not-so-distant corners of the Solar System. After all, a mistake of a few centimeters at the start, for example, will result in a mistake of hundreds of meters when landing on Mars.