John do, you want to hear something worrying? So much ice has melted across the planet that the Earth’s crust is starting to morph and shift.

Here’s how that even happens: The mass of ice in both the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets weighs down on the Earth’s outermost crust. When that ice then melts rapidly, the crust rebounds and quickly shifts upward.

Sophie Coulson, planetary scientist and the lead author on a new study exploring this phenomenon explains it like this:

“Think of a wooden board floating on top of a tub of water. When you push the board down, you would have the water beneath moving down. If you pick it up, you’ll see the water moving vertically to fill that space.”

The researchers were surprised to learn that this did not just affect the crust near Greenland and Antarctica but that the impacts were actually global in scale. Yet more proof that climate change is altering the entire planet.

Scientists are still studying the repercussions of this shifting of Earth’s crust. At the very least, a morphing crust will affect tectonic activity and might cause even further ice melting.

There’s no question, John, that widespread melting ice is causing big problems. In addition to altering the structure of our planet’s crust, scientists have also found that enough ice has melted to shift Earth’s axis.

SEEC Members in Congress are fighting tooth and nail to ensure that we take bold action to combat the climate crisis and mitigate future global warming. Will you join their fight with a donation today?

— SEEC PAC