From Peter Slessenger
On re-reading Anil Ananthaswamy’s article on melting Arctic ice caps (4 July, p 28), I realise I haven’t seen any mention of the Earth’s rotation in connection with global warming. If a mass of meltwater sufficient to raise global sea levels by several metres spreads out from within 1600 kilometres of the Earth’s axis of rotation towards equatorial regions, about 5000 km further out, where the rotational speed is roughly 1600 km/hour, this could have a significant braking effect on rotation.
The loss of icy mass from Antarctica will also reduce its balancing effect on the northern hemisphere’s continental masses. What will be the effect on the stability of the Earth’s rotation, and how might the rotational braking affect tectonic plates and volcanism? Is there anything in the geological record from other sudden changes in sea level to indicate how strong these effects will be?
Reading, Berkshire, UK
