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Earth is spinning faster than usual, causing shorter days by milliseconds. Scientists are studying this rare change, which may affect technology and timekeeping. The reasons include changes in the atmosphere, moon’s pull and Earth's core.
In many parts of the world, people are enjoying long summer days. But few know that the Earth is spinning faster than usual. This faster spin has made some recent days the shortest since modern clocks began measuring time.
On July 9, the day was 1.34 milliseconds shorter than a full 24 hours. That may not sound like much, but for scientists and timekeepers, even such a small change matters. Experts say we may see more short days soon: On July 22 and August 5, as per a report in National Geographic.
Why Earth is spinning faster than before
There are many reasons why Earth's rotation is speeding up. Some are natural, while others are harder to explain.
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1. Moon's effect on Earth
The moon pulls on Earth with its gravity. When it is closer to the equator, it slows Earth down. But when it is nearer the poles, it helps Earth spin faster.
2. Changes in Earth's atmosphere
In summer, the jet stream in our atmosphere slows down. Since the air and Earth move together, the planet speeds up a little to keep balance.
3. Earth's inner core
Deep inside Earth, the core is spinning more slowly than before. No one knows exactly why. To stay balanced, the rest of the planet spins a bit faster to make up for it.
Have days always been this short?
Even though the past few years have had some very short days, they are not the shortest in Earth's full history.
Millions of years ago, Earth spun faster. For example, 430 million years ago, a day lasted only 21 hours. 70 million years ago, during the time of dinosaurs, a day lasted about 23.5 hours. Back then, there were more days in a year, about 372!
Since then, the moon's pull has been slowly slowing Earth down. But short-term changes, like the ones happening now, can still cause some faster days.
Can you feel the shorter days?
Most people cannot feel the change. That's because the day is only shorter by a millisecond, which is one-thousandth of a second. Even a blink of your eye takes 100 to 400 milliseconds, which is much longer.
However, very small changes like this are important for scientists, especially astronomers, who study stars and space. They need exact time to track planets and stars properly.
What happens if Earth keeps spinning faster?
Since 1955, when atomic clocks began, time has been measured very precisely. But Earth's spin is not constant, which creates a gap between atomic time and Earth's rotation.
To fix this, scientists sometimes add a 'leap second', an extra second added to the clock. This has been done 27 times since 1972.
Now, because Earth is speeding up, experts may need to remove a second for the first time ever. This is called a negative leap second, and it could happen by 2029.
But removing a second is tricky. Many computer systems are built to expect time to always move forward. A negative leap second might confuse some software and cause errors.
Climate change and Earth's spin
Climate change may also be playing a role in Earth's rotation. Melting ice, rising sea levels and less groundwater change how Earth's mass is spread out. This makes Earth spin more slowly.
Scientists say modern climate change has already increased day length by 0.6 to 0.7 milliseconds in the past 100 years. This effect might grow stronger in the future and could cancel out the recent speeding up of Earth’s spin.
Scientists still searching for answers
Even though scientists understand many things about Earth's spin, it is still hard to predict what will happen next. Many different forces are at work and they affect each other in ways we don't fully understand.
Experts say they can only make accurate predictions about Earth's rotation six months ahead. After that, there are too many unknowns.
So, should we be worried?
Not really. The Earth is always changing, and these small shifts are normal over time. But it's a good reminder of how complex and amazing our planet is. Even something as steady as the length of a day isn't as fixed as we might think.
So tomorrow when you check the time, remember our planet might just be spinning a little faster than yesterday.