William sent in the link https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/earth-tilted-31-5-inches-170000517.html … It was always scientific dogma that the poles could not move yet here we have a story that claims earth tilted by 31 inches as a result of extracting ground water. Actually, the earth has moved at the poles as a result of big earthquakes – but by much less than 31 inches. research paper was published in Geophysical Research Letters which is a good geological journal. The researchers, or the publicity blurb, goes on to say that 31.5 inches is roughly 24 inches of sea level rise. Here is where I become wary as if the earth tilts, by any amount, what happens on one side of the planet must be compensated on the other side. If the sea level has risen, anywhere, by 24 inches, it should have been part of the alarmist meme a long while ago. Hence, a wary eye should be maintained. What they are really saying is that extracting ground water aquifers for use by human societies should see that water end up in the oceans – out of the tap or the lavatory pan. Hence, theoretically, sea levels should have risen – but have they [and where]. Obviously, one needs to actually read the research article itself rather than the alarmism that has been generated in media reports. Journalists are not known to look at the facts – exciting themselves by reading the publicity hand-outs. Modeling was used by the researchers, we are told, but was there any empirical evidence? Climate science relies heavily on models. Is this another example of projection?
Catastrophists, over the years, have been repeatedly told the poles cannot move at the axis of rotation. To a neutral observer, the extent of the Late Glacial Maximum looks very much like a movement of the poles, but that is out of the question, we are told. Geologists won’t even look at the idea. The rigidity of the poles is like a guide line sunk into the ground. It is absolute. Yet here we have a research paper that claims extracting ground water can move the poles [even if it get replenished by rainfall]. It should also be noted that there is plenty of evidence of sea level rise at the end of the Ice Age which is what one would expect if the poles had moved – or are they suggesting that a tilt cannot cause sea level rise, anywhere. Only an increase of water to the oceans can do that.