Groundwater pumping alters Earth's rotation and tilt, study finds.

Pumping groundwater out of the ground and redistributing it has caused the Earth's rotational pole to shift nearly 80 centimeters east between 1993 and 2010, according to a new study. The research shows that groundwater depletion is the largest contributor to the drift of the rotational pole, which affects how mass is distributed on the planet. The study suggests that countries' attempts to slow groundwater depletion rates, especially in sensitive regions, could alter the change in drift, but only if such conservation approaches are sustained for decades.