PLN 15

What matters today is the effect of the Chile earthquake. an article on Yahoo! News, talks about how NASA thinks that the 8.8 tremor, might have shifted the Earth's axis ever so slightly. The scientists are reporting that the shift has made our days shorter. This means that the quake caused the Earth to speed up its rotation. The shift isn't much; the days are only shorter by 1.26 milliseconds. Yet that short amount of time could cause the Earths magnetic poles to adjust, and the gravity could be affected. If the polarization is disturbed, not only will compasses not work right any more, but the weather patterns could change. The jet steam could move causing air traffic problems. If the gravity is affected, the moon could move closer, or farther away. Things would also feel lighter, effecting scales and weights. Now obviously the effects will not be too drastic because it is only 1.26 milliseconds, but if only one degree in temperature (global warming) can cause more severe hurricanes, what could speeding the rotation of the planet cause. I think that scientist should begin to work on a way to stop, or at least detect earthquakes before they cause destruction. I also think that the NASA people need to release more information on what this shift could do to life as we know it. For all we know, it could cause and early demise of the human race.