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Scientists around the world have noticed that the earth has been spinning faster on its axis lately – the fastest ever recorded. Several scientists have spoken to the press about the unusual phenomenon, and some have pointed out that the past year of the shortest days ever recorded has taken place.
Throughout most of human history, time has been characterized by the 24-hour day / night cycle (with some changes that are comfortable as the seasons change). The cycle is controlled by the velocity at which the planet rotates on its axis. Therefore, the length of a day has become the standard by which time is marked – each day lasts about 86,400 seconds. The day / night cycle is remarkably consistent despite the fact that it changes frequently.
A few decades ago, the development of atomic clocks enabled scientists to record time in incredibly small increments, which in turn could measure the length of a given day to milliseconds. And this has led to the discovery that the rotation of the planet is actually much more changeable than once thought. Since such measurements began, scientists have also found that the Earth has slowed its rotation very gradually (compensated by the occasional insertion of a leap second) – until recently, when it began to rotate faster – so much so that some in the field is starting to wonder if a negative jump is needed this year, an unprecedented proposition. Scientists also noted that last summer, July 19, was the shortest day ever recorded – it was 1.4602 milliseconds shorter than the standard.
Planetary scientists are not worried about the new finding; they learned that there are many factors that influence planetary rotation – including the pull of the moon, snowfall, and mountain erosion. They also began to wonder if global warming might cause the earth to spin faster as the snow caps and snow began to disappear at great heights. Computer scientists, on the other hand, are somewhat concerned about the changing spinning speed – so much of modern technology is based on what they describe as ‘real time’. Adding a negative leap second can lead to problems, and some have suggested that the world’s clocks be shifted from solar time to atomic time.
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Quotation: Earth has been spinning faster lately (2021, January 7), tracked on January 7, 2021 from https://phys.org/news/2021-01-earth-faster.html
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