We all know that a day on planet Earth is 24 hours long, except it is not. These are actually a few fractions of a second longer, which is why we have February 29 every four years. The earth is still not a clock, and the actual length of a day can vary slightly. Scientists now say that the days have started to tend shorter because the earth rotates faster, which may require additional, potentially confusing adjustments.
Before you get stressed about another existential threat to the future of the planet, scientists do not believe that the increased speed of spin is a danger. The mechanisms for this effect are well understood. Factors such as gravity, snowfall levels and mountain erosion can affect the speed at which the globe rotates. The effect is that days can be a few milliseconds shorter or longer than the 84,400 number we use to keep track of time.
The availability of precise atomic clocks over the last few decades has enabled mankind to adjust our time measurement more accurately. For example, on several occasions we added a “leap second” to keep the clocks out of line with the traditional leap year adjustment. Since we started measuring time like this, the days have been longer, usually by a fraction of a millisecond. However, the trend has now reversed.
The gravity of the moon is one of several things that can change the rotational speed of the earth.
Scientists note that the past year has been on the shorter side with the same small margins. July 19, however, was a much shorter day, which was 1.4602 milliseconds lower than the standard. The previous record for the shortest day was set in 2005, but it was beaten 28 times in 2020.
If this trend continues, we will most likely need a negative jumps second in the next few years to keep our watches in sync with ‘real time’. ‘This would be the first time since all previous adjustments added time. Although it is impossible to say with certainty that this acceleration will continue, most scientists believe that it will happen. Regardless, the faster rotation is not in itself a problem – the causes can be. Some began to wonder aloud whether large-scale changes due to global warming had a noticeable effect on the turn. Shaving off a few milliseconds of the day will not hurt anyone, but that’s not exactly a good sign.
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