the earth is changing shape (for real)

[donsu]

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0807_020807_earthgirth.html

Why is Earth's Girth Bulging?

This is heavy.

Something massive is moving on or within the Earth and causing the planet's gravity field to get wider around the equator and flatter at the poles, according to a pair of scientists studying the field with sensitive satellite instruments.

The scientists are uncertain as to the reasons for this phenomenon, which was just the opposite for several decades prior to 1997, but think the answer possibly lies within long-term variation in the oceans.

"Starting after 1997, the world that was getting rounder started getting more oblate ," said Christopher Cox, a research scientist at the Space Geodesy Branch of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

At first, the scientists had any number of explanations for this observed phenomenon—from changes in the atmosphere to the amount of water in the oceans to ocean tidal effects. But the Earth kept getting fatter at the equator and flatter at the poles.

"It has finally gotten so big that we can't explain it with any known mechanism," said Cox, who co-authored a paper in the August 2 issue of the journal Science on this change in shape of the Earth's gravity field.

-snip-
---------------------------------------


the article goes on to say scientists think melting poles and glaciers are the cause

scientists are studying it while it is happening. I would think predicting the future would be impossible.

[eyepaddle]

1. Thanks for that,

I've also bookmarked the article.

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Matariki]

3. Hey, maybe the means the Earth REALLY used to be flat!!!

[tridim]

4. So I guess that means the equator is spinning faster

due to the increased circumference. That would also mean a person would weigh less on the equator. How long before we start flying off into space? Maybe NASA should move their launch facilities to the equator to save fuel on launch.

I think they're right.. The glacial mass is moving from the polls to the equator. Spinning more mass will certainly cause a bulge. I wonder how the Earth is going to handle this? One thing is certain, the Earth is going to try to heal itself regardless of the effects on it's occupants.

[SoCalDem]

5. carbs & trans fats?

:shrug:

[meganmonkey]

7. High Fructose Corn Syrup

:o

[EC]

6. Oh dear, and today in the Sun-Times they note

that the Sun hasn't had any sunspots of late....(9 days so far)

[dave29]

8. oy.

so infrequently do we think of the ACTUAL big picture.

[Swamp Rat]

9. Too many McDonald's hamburgers

:D

[Blue Belle]

14. OMG!! Is this picture for real???

WTF is wrong with this country. Our population is getting fatter and dumber... and we don't seem to care - just as long as we can super-size our combo meal, we're fine. :eyes:

[Swamp Rat]

15. We are being fattened up for the Big Feast

[Blue Belle]

16. We are a nation of Veal...

getting fat and complacent... with out a care for our near future.

[Little Star]

10. Maybe it is shrinking in places instead due to

all the oil we suck out. I have always had this concern about what we take out of the mother earth.

[pinniped]

11. Is this going to mess up my tide tables?

.

[Uncle Joe]

12. My 2 cents worth of layman's physics,

believes the draining of the planet's lubricant (oil) will ultimately slow down the continuous movement of the inner core composed of molten rock and metal, thus eventually shutting down or drastically altering Earth's magnetic field. This is just a pet theory of mine, no scientific evidence to back it up yet.

[Geoff R. Casavant]

13. Well, it's obvious to me

Look at any model globe. Look at the north and south poles. See those wingnuts? They exert a whole lot of pressure!

:-)

[incapsulated]

17. Planetary love handles

Hey, if you were that old, you would have them too.

I just hope it doesn't, like... explode or somethin'.

I prefer the extinction by meteor scenario. I want to see it coming.