The rising Earth

The Rising Earth: It’s Not Getting Bigger, But It Is Changing

Okay, so when you hear “rising Earth,” you might picture our planet puffing up like a balloon. That’s… not quite it. There was this old theory about an “expanding Earth,” the idea that it was once much smaller and has been growing ever since. But, honestly, that idea has pretty much gone the way of the dinosaurs. Instead, what we’re really talking about when we say “rising Earth” boils down to two big things: sea levels creeping higher thanks to climate change, and some almost imperceptible wobbles in how our planet spins.

Let’s ditch that expanding Earth idea first, shall we?

This theory basically said continents were all snug together on a teeny-tiny Earth way back when, and then drifted apart as the planet got bigger. Sounds neat, right? Problem is, it never really had a good “how.” Like, what made the Earth expand? Some folks thought maybe it was gaining mass, but nobody could figure out where all that extra stuff was coming from. Plus, we’ve got this whole other explanation for how continents move: plate tectonics. This theory explains that the Earth’s surface is broken into plates that move around, and this movement is what causes continents to drift apart. And, unlike the expanding Earth idea, we can actually see this happening!

Oh, and here’s a kicker: we’ve got super-precise instruments that can measure the Earth’s size, and they’re not showing any significant expansion. NASA even did a study and found the Earth’s radius is changing by, like, a tenth of a millimeter a year. That’s basically nothing.

So, yeah, expanding Earth? Cool idea, but not really how things work.

Now, let’s talk about something that is happening: sea level rise. This is the “rising Earth” we need to worry about. And it’s pretty simple: climate change is warming things up, and that’s making the oceans rise. How? Two main ways:

First, water expands when it gets warmer. Think about it like heating up a pot of water – it takes up a little more space. This “thermal expansion” accounts for a big chunk of the sea level rise we’re seeing.

Second, all that ice we have at the poles is melting. And when it melts, it flows into the ocean. The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are especially important here, because they’re massive. If they melt, sea levels could go up a lot.

I remember seeing some photos of houses in Miami that were literally underwater during high tide. It’s a real problem, and it’s only going to get worse.

The consequences are huge: more floods, beaches disappearing, saltwater messing up our drinking water, and habitats getting destroyed.

Since 1880, the average global sea level has already risen by about 8-9 inches. And the scary part? It’s speeding up. It used to be rising at a snail’s pace, but now it’s more than doubled. That’s why we need to take this seriously.

But wait, there’s more! Climate change isn’t just making the sea levels rise; it’s also messing with the Earth’s spin.

Think about it like this: imagine you’re spinning pizza dough. If you move a big clump of dough from the center to the edge, it changes how the dough spins. Same thing happens with the Earth. As ice melts and water gets redistributed around the planet, it changes the Earth’s moment of inertia. This causes the Earth to wobble a bit (polar motion), and even slows down its rotation.

The days are getting longer, but only by a tiny amount – about 1.33 milliseconds per century since 2000. Still, it’s measurable, and it’s another sign that climate change is having a real impact on our planet.

So, the Earth isn’t getting bigger, but it is changing. Sea level rise and changes in Earth’s rotation are real, and they’re happening because of climate change. We need to understand these changes so we can figure out how to deal with them. The Earth might not be expanding, but it’s definitely demanding our attention.