The planet Earth is unique. The Earth’s rotation creates the cycle of day and night. However, scientists have found the Earth is now rotating faster than normal, resulting in days becoming shorter by a few milliseconds.
Well, according to scientists, the Earth is now rotating faster than normal, resulting in days becoming shorter by a few milliseconds. While these losses may seem small, there are significant ramifications for global timekeeping systems.
Why are Earth days becoming shorter?
Generally, leap seconds are added to atomic clocks to take account of the Earth’s gradually slowing rotation. However, continuing on the path of a faster rotational period of the Earth and accelerating, experts project that by 2029, we may need to remove a leap second for the first time. This information may be a monumental factor in aligning human-made timekeeping systems with the function of the planet. This shows that time can be influenced by the subtle dynamism of Earth.
The Earth spins on its axis about every 86,400 seconds to make what we call a day. That length of time is by no means perfectly constant. The Earth’s spin is affected by many natural factors – gravitational forces from the Moon and Sun or changes in the geophysics within the Earth itself – which create small variations in time.
Historically, and now, the Earth is gradually slowing down its rotation. According to the Times of India report, during the time of the dinosaurs, the Earth spun so fast that one day lasted only about 23 hours. By the time of the bronze age, a day had become just slightly longer – still about half a second shorter than today! Theoretically, scientists believe the Earth will eventually reach 25-hour days – but it is expected to take another 200 million years.
What change is happening to Earth’s rotation speed?
Since 2020, Earth has been spinning at a faster speed, a phenomenon that has amazed scientists. The International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS) in Washington, D.C., has noted that this acceleration has been steady, resulting in slightly shorter days by just a few milliseconds. If this occurs, experts have said that we might need to remove a leap second from Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) sometime by 2029, something that we’ll do for the first time in history.
What is a leap second?
A leap second is a one-second modification that is sometimes used with atomic clocks, whenever there is a change in Earth’s irregular rotation. Because Earth’s spin doesn’t perfectly match atomic time, leap seconds help bridge the difference. Thus far, leap seconds have only ever been added to compensate for the slowdown of Earth’s rotation. If we continue to spin faster and faster, we may be in the position of removing a leap second from atomic time for the first time in history, and then our clocks would also be able to match Earth’s actual rotation.
Which specific dates in July and August will be most affected?
As reported by timeanddate.com, this trend of shorter days will likely continue until at least 2025. Scientists have also calculated three specific dates when Earth’s rotation will be rapid: July 9, 2025; July 22, 2025; August 5, 2025. Also, as USA Today reported, on August 5th, a day may be as much as 1.51 milliseconds shorter than 24 hours. Humans might not be able to perceive this change, but in scientific terms, this matters greatly, and timekeeping systems need to be accurate.