Our planet is not a perfect sphere, as it appears from space. Its rotation creates a slight bulge around the equator and a flattening at the poles. But new research suggests that the Earth is becoming rounder at an accelerating rate, partly because of the enormous quantities of ice caps melting from Greenland and Antarctica.
The changes are almost impossible to notice in everyday life. However, when measured across a planet thousands of kilometres wide, they offer an extraordinary glimpse into the physical consequences of a warming world.
Climate Change Is Changing Earth’s Shape: Why Our Planet Is Becoming Rounder
The Earth beneath our feet is slowly changing shape. As polar ice melts, the solid planet is responding to the loss of ice, revealing another remarkable way human-driven climate change is reshaping our world. The change offers a powerful reminder beyond rising temperatures and extreme weather.
It can influence the movement of oceans, the behaviour of Earth’s crust and even the planet’s rotation. Although describing Earth as becoming “rounder” is a simplified way of explaining these complex processes, the underlying science reveals a profound connection between melting ice and the planet’s physical structure. What happens in the frozen polar regions does not remain confined to the poles; it sends ripples through the interconnected systems of our entire world.
How Is Climate Change Altering Earth’s Shape?
Earth’s shape is influenced by its rotation, gravity, the movement of water and the behaviour of its solid interior. These forces interact continuously, meaning that even a change in the distribution of mass across the planet can affect its shape.
As global temperatures rise, glaciers and polar ice sheets lose mass. The resulting meltwater flows into the oceans, redistributing water that was previously stored on land. At the same time, the ground beneath the shrinking ice sheets begins to respond to the reduced weight pressing down on it. This process is known as glacial isostatic adjustment when it reflects the Earth’s response to the unloading of ice, although present-day ice loss can also produce a more immediate elastic response.
Think of pressing a finger into a soft mattress. When the pressure is removed, the surface gradually rises again. In a similar way, the Earth’s crust and underlying mantle respond when the immense weight of polar ice diminishes. These movements are subtle, but modern satellite-based measurements are becoming increasingly capable of detecting them.
What Did the New Research Discover?
A study published in September 2026 in JGR: Solid Earth examined changes in the solid Earth’s shape using measurements from the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). Geodesy professor Christoforos Kotsakis of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece developed a method to analyse vertical ground movements and assess how they relate to changes in the Earth’s overall figure.
According to the reported findings, between 2011 and 2015, the poles were rising while the equatorial bulge of the solid Earth was shrinking. Both changes were approximately 1 millimetre per year. That may sound insignificant. However, the research compared these changes with an earlier period, from 1997 to 2000, when the solid Earth was reportedly becoming rounder at approximately 0.5 millimetres per year.
The difference suggests that the rate of rounding increased by around 0.4 millimetres per year between the two reported rates. The key point is not that Earth is suddenly changing its appearance. Rather, the measurements reveal how the solid planet responds to changes in the distribution of mass caused, in part, by the loss of polar ice.
Why Are the Poles Rising?
The polar regions contain enormous ice sheets that have pressed down on the land beneath them for thousands of years. When that ice melts, the pressure on the underlying ground decreases. The land can then rise as the Earth’s interior responds to the reduced load.
This process is particularly important in understanding the long-term evolution of Greenland and Antarctica, where changes in ice mass can affect both the solid ground and the global distribution of ocean water. The response is not instantaneous or uniform.
Some movements reflect the relatively rapid elastic response of the Earth, while others continue over centuries or longer as the mantle slowly adjusts. The combined effect is a complex pattern of vertical movements that scientists can study to better understand how our planet is changing.
The Ocean Adds Another Twist
There is an important distinction between the shape of the solid Earth and the shape of the Earth system when the oceans are included. As polar ice melts, water moves into the oceans and is redistributed around the globe. This changes the distribution of mass and influences the planet’s gravitational field, sea level and rotation. The study’s reported interpretation indicates that, although the solid Earth is becoming rounder in the measured sense, the combined Earth-and-ocean system can show a different trend. The ocean’s equatorial bulge can offset or outweigh the rounding occurring in the underlying solid planet.
In other words, the solid Earth and the ocean do not necessarily change shape in the same direction. This distinction matters because headlines about Earth becoming rounder can be misleading if they imply that every part of the planet is responding identically.
How Do Scientists Measure a Changing Planet?
Scientists use several complementary techniques to track changes in Earth’s shape and mass distribution.
1. Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)
GNSS stations use satellite signals to measure the movement of points on Earth’s surface. By analysing these measurements over time, researchers can identify extremely small changes in ground elevation and movement.
2. Gravity-field measurements
Earth’s gravitational field varies with the distribution of mass. Satellite observations of these variations help researchers estimate changes in ice sheets, groundwater, oceans and other components of the Earth system.
3. Combining different observations
GNSS and gravity measurements do not always match perfectly because they measure different physical properties. When analysed together, however, they can provide a more complete understanding of how the planet is responding to ice loss and shifting water.
There are also limitations. GNSS stations are unevenly distributed, with relatively few in some remote polar and oceanic regions. This makes continued monitoring and improved global coverage particularly important.
What Does This Mean for Climate Change?
The changing shape of the Earth is not, by itself, proof of every aspect of human-caused climate change. Rather, it is one measurable physical response associated with the redistribution of mass, including the loss of polar ice. Its significance lies in the wider picture.
Melting glaciers and ice sheets contribute to rising sea levels. Changes in mass distribution can influence Earth’s rotation and the position of its rotational axis. The resulting ground movements also provide valuable information about the changing ice sheets and the solid planet beneath them.
Together, these observations show that climate change is not simply a matter of hotter summers, stronger heatwaves or shifting rainfall patterns. It can also alter the physical processes that shape the planet. The changes happen gradually, but their consequences can extend across generations.
A Planet That Records Our Actions
Earth is neither static nor perfectly symmetrical. It is a dynamic system in which the atmosphere, oceans, ice, land and living organisms constantly interact. The latest research offers another reminder that changes occurring in one part of this system can produce measurable effects elsewhere.
When polar ice melts, the consequences reach beyond the frozen landscapes where the process begins. For humanity, the message is clear: the planet is responding to a changing climate in ways that are both visible and hidden. Satellites and ground-based instruments allow scientists to detect changes that would otherwise remain beyond human perception. Yet measuring these changes is only part of the challenge. Understanding them must go hand in hand with reducing greenhouse gas emissions, protecting vulnerable ecosystems and preparing communities for the impacts of a warming world.
At The Secrets of Nature, we believe that every scientific discovery offers an opportunity to look more deeply at our relationship with the natural world. Earth’s changing shape is a striking example: even the most fundamental features of our home planet are connected to the movement of ice, water and energy.
The Earth may be becoming rounder in one measurable sense, but the real story is much bigger. A warming climate is reshaping the relationships between ice, land and ocean – and reminding us that no part of our planet exists in isolation.
References and Further Reading
1. Kotsakis, C. (2026). “Mapping Global GNSS Vertical Velocities to Solid Earth Figure Change.” Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 131(9). Published September 9, 2026. https://doi.org/10.1029/2026JB034224
2. Pappas, S. (2026). “Climate change is literally altering the shape of our planet.” Live Science. https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/climate-change-is-literally-altering-the-shape-of-our-planet
