This is not an example of science working. Everything is an estimate. The amount of groundwater pumped out is unknown. There is also the effect of groundwater seeping back in. You could say there were 27.038 gigatons of water pumped from aquifers and nobody could say whether that was true or not.
You could also say that sea level is rising 2 centimeters per year but after 10 years it would only be 20 centimeters. If you go down to the ocean with a ruler you will have a hard time getting sea level to stop rising and falling long enough to take a measurement.
There is already a wobble baked in to the earth’s rotation due to the fact that the Antarctic ice mass is not centered on the South Pole. No scientists are saying how many gigatons of water have been frozen into the Antarctic ice mass. That for sure will change the mass distribution of water on the earth.
Sarcasm:
Know it, live it, love it.
Throw in the other variables, like sun, moon, molten center, etc and the question becomes unmanageable. If we look at two, three, maybe more it becomes unmanageable and we don’t feel in control.
When we are not in control, can’t understand something, it leads to God as the answer. But we can’t have that so we look at two variables and feel like God.
The first think I learned in statistics class from a wise old professor is, “Statistics NEVER gives you an answer, at best it might give you another question.