As reported in recent days by outlets including Popular Science and USA Today, more than a year after the research was published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, the pumping of 2,150 gigatons of groundwater over the period of study from 1993 to 2010 shifted the Earth's tilt more than two feet.

Pumping an unimaginable amount of groundwater out of the earth is why Earth has tilted over two dozen degrees, a study found.

Earth has therefore tilted it on its axis at a rate of about 1.7 inches (4.3 centimetres) a year, giving a total of 78.5 centimetres, during the 18-year study period.