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WASHINGTON (AP) — You'd never feel it and experts say it's harmless, but a new NASA study finds that global warming is shifting the way the Earth wobbles on its polar axis.
The study cites melting ice sheets, especially in Greenland, are changing the distribution of weight on Earth.
The study, published today in Friday's Science Advances journal, says the weight change has caused both the North Pole and the wobble, which is called polar motion, to change course. Measurements taken by scientists and navigators show that the true pole and polar motion have shifted a bit toward England during the past century.
University of Arizona geosciences professor Jonathan Overpeck, who wasn't part of the study, says it "highlights how real and profoundly large an impact humans are having on the planet."
As for the change in the wobbling, experts say it's "nothing to worry about."
Sound:
246-c-17-(Seth Borenstein (BOR'-ehn-styn), AP correspondent)-"motion, that wobbles"-AP correspondent Seth Borenstein reports a NASA study finds that global warming is shifting the way the Earth wobbles on its polar axis. (8 Apr 2016)
<<CUT *246 (04/08/16)££ 00:17 "motion, that wobbles"
247-c-13-(Seth Borenstein (BOR'-ehn-styn), AP correspondent)-"starts to wobble"-AP correspondent Seth Borenstein reports a NASA study finds that global warming is causing the earth's polar motion to "wobble." (8 Apr 2016)
<<CUT *247 (04/08/16)££ 00:13 "starts to wobble"
249-c-10-(Seth Borenstein (BOR'-ehn-styn), AP correspondent)-"climate change is"-AP correspondent Seth Borenstein reports the determination that global warming is shifting the way the Earth wobbles on its polar axis is an interesting scientific find that isn't affecting people on the planet. (8 Apr 2016)
<<CUT *249 (04/08/16)££ 00:10 "climate change is"
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Online:
Science Advances: http://advances.sciencemag.org/
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