| Title | Earth Records Shortest Day, Putting Clocks (Slightly) Out of Time | |
| Date | Tuesday August 02 2022, @12:10PM | |
| Author | janrinok | |
| Topic | ||
| from the fleeting-milliseconds-slip-by dept. | ||
Considering the recent thread on the potential removal of leap seconds, a story in TheAge aussie paper seemed worth adding to the discussion:
Earth had its shortest day since records began last month, with 1.59 milliseconds shaved off the usual 24 hour spin on June 29 - raising the prospect that a negative leap second may soon be needed to keep clocks matched up with the heavens.
The Earth appears to be spinning slightly faster than normal.
Usually, Earth's average rotational speed decreases slightly over time and timekeepers have been forced to add 27 leap seconds to atomic time since the 1970s as the planet slows.
But since 2020, the phenomenon has reversed with records being frequently broken over the last two years. The previous fastest day was -1.47 milliseconds under 24 hours on July 19 2020 and it was almost broken again on July 26, when the day was -1.50 milliseconds shorter. While the effect is too small to be noticeable by humans, it can accumulate over time, potentially impacting modern satellite communication and navigation systems which rely on time being consistent with the conventional positions of the Sun, Moon and stars.
It means that it may soon be necessary to remove time, adding a negative leap second, and speeding up global clocks for the first time ever.
Related stories:
Why One Critical Second Can Wreak Havoc On The Internet
5. 4. 3. 2. 1. 1... An Extra Second to See Out 2016
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printed from SoylentNews, Earth Records Shortest Day, Putting Clocks (Slightly) Out of Time on 2024-04-25 18:08:59