link to original NASA press release about this (Score 2, Interesting)

to repeat... the following is a link to the original NASA press release. It also includes two rather pointless images that highlight the direction of the "bulge" pre-1997 and post-1997.

• Satellites Reveal a Mystery of Large Change in Earth's Gravity
  Satellite data since 1998 indicates the bulge in the Earth's gravity field at the equator is growing, and scientists think that the ocean may hold the answer to the mystery of how the changes in the trend of Earth's gravity are occurring.

if you like the globe in the images there's a better one on the same web site called the Blue Marble

and don't forget to check out the Natural Hazards