4 ms·

The GHG/snow angle is really smart. I initially thought that petroleum extraction/carbon emissions would slow the planet ever so slightly because we're taking s

The GHG/snow angle is really smart. I initially thought that petroleum extraction/carbon emissions would slow the planet ever so slightly because we're taking stuff from underground and moving it into the atmosphere. But water/ice are much heavier, and reducing the range of elevations where snow is trapped would do the opposite (less water at higher elevations and more at lower), plus there's way more snow/water than petroleum.

anigbrowl 6y ago
If it is validated perhaps advocates for change will be able to make the argument that we are literally running out of time and it will prove sufficiently engaging that 'skeptics' lose traction in trying and failing to refute it. I use scare quotes because many self-styled climate skeptics are not sincere inquirers after truth but rather shills for established economic interests.
- abeppu 6y ago
  Or perhaps the established economic interests will astroturf some fear about pumped-water hydro systems.
zarq 6y ago
Petroleum and gasses should be lighter than the rock surrounding them right, so if you move those up, the rock above those layers will be moved closer to the earth's center. So I would expect that that will cause the earth to spin faster, not slower.
- omgwtfbyobbq 6y ago
  That's a good point, so it could be both. I'm not sure how high the average distribution of CO2 would have to be to offset that. The petroleum/gas could also be compressed under pressure, which might offset that effect to some degree.
adamjb 6y ago
Back of the envelope calculation: a 1 ms/day slowing would require ~10^20 kg of mass at the equator to be moved a km inward. For scale, wiki helpfully points out that the world's oceans weighs 10^21 kg. https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=rotational+angular+momentum+of+earth+*+1ms%2Fday+*+1%2F1km+*++1%2F%28465.10+m%2Fs%29 https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=rotational+angular+mom... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orders_of_magnitude_(mass)#1018_to_1023_kg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orders_of_magnitude_(mass)#101...

anigbrowl 6y ago

If it is validated perhaps advocates for change will be able to make the argument that we are literally running out of time and it will prove sufficiently engaging that 'skeptics' lose traction in trying and failing to refute it. I use scare quotes because many self-styled climate skeptics are not sincere inquirers after truth but rather shills for established economic interests.

abeppu 6y ago
Or perhaps the established economic interests will astroturf some fear about pumped-water hydro systems.

zarq 6y ago

Petroleum and gasses should be lighter than the rock surrounding them right, so if you move those up, the rock above those layers will be moved closer to the earth's center. So I would expect that that will cause the earth to spin faster, not slower.

omgwtfbyobbq 6y ago
That's a good point, so it could be both. I'm not sure how high the average distribution of CO2 would have to be to offset that. The petroleum/gas could also be compressed under pressure, which might offset that effect to some degree.

adamjb 6y ago

Back of the envelope calculation: a 1 ms/day slowing would require ~10^20 kg of mass at the equator to be moved a km inward. For scale, wiki helpfully points out that the world's oceans weighs 10^21 kg. https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=rotational+angular+momentum+of+earth+*+1ms%2Fday+*+1%2F1km+*++1%2F%28465.10+m%2Fs%29 https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=rotational+angular+mom... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orders_of_magnitude_(mass)#1018_to_1023_kg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orders_of_magnitude_(mass)#101...