This is more of a Science Friday question than anything else.
In the olden days, before Pangea (the supercontinent) broke up, it is theorized that the mass of the supercontinent caused a bump or wobble in the rotation of the Earth, much like an unbalanced top would rotate in a wobbly manner.
By analyzing the magnetic composition of ancient sediments found in the remote Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, Princeton University's Adam Maloof has lent credence to a 140-year-old theory regarding the way the Earth might restore its own balance if an unequal distribution of weight ever developed in its interior or on its surface.
The theory, known as true polar wander, postulates that if an object of sufficient weight -- such as a supersized volcano -- ever formed far from the equator, the force of the planet's rotation would gradually pull the heavy object away from the axis the Earth spins around. If the volcanoes, land and other masses that exist within the spinning Earth ever became sufficiently imbalanced, the planet would tilt and rotate itself until this extra weight was relocated to a point along the equator.
http://www.astrobio.net/...
"If a true polar wander event has occurred in our planet's history, it's likely been when the continents formed a single mass on one side of the Earth," he said. "We don't expect there to be another event in the foreseeable future, though. The Earth's surface is pretty well balanced today."
Is it?
I'm not interested or concerned about north polar ice that rides on the northern ocean. If that melts, the water is still there, and that ice isn't horribly thick anyway. However, what about the huge amounts of ice on land above the Arctic Circle? What if that melts?
Ice in Antarctica isn't shifting out as rapidly as it is in the north, and in some cases ice is still accumulating.
What if... The great mass of ice in the Northern Hemisphere melts, and the great mass of ice in the Southern Hemisphere does not? Will that shift in mass in any way affect the rotational wobble of the planet?
The Greenland icecap contains 1/8th of the total global ice-mass. http://www.geocities.com/... The total ice-mass on earth is 30 million. cubic km; Antarctica has 27 million.cubic km; Greenland 2.5 million. cubic km.
Just speculation for a cold December day here in Indianapolis.