Why days are shorter than 24 hours now and Earth is rotating faster?
Yes, days now aren’t 24 hours long. In a shocking discovery, scientists have found that the speed of the rotation of the earth has strikingly increased and is now its fastest ever in 50 years!
According to a report in the Daily Mail, every day has been shorter than 24 hours, since 2020. As per the reports, 19 July 2020 was declared the shortest day of the last 5 decades, being 1.4602 milliseconds shorter than the full 24 hours. Earlier, the shortest day was in 2005, but in the last 12 months, this record has been broken a total of 28 times.
How much time are we losing?
Scientists are claiming that on average, days can be considered to be shorter than 24 hours by 0.5 seconds. Scientists round the world are considering whether one second should be reduced from time to time.
This can be done to maintain the changes in time and the connection of time with the speed of the earth. Also read: Pics of nature working overtime during lockdown
While 0.5 second might not sound like a big deal, but then you look at the number for the month it is 15 seconds which means every month we are getting 15 seconds behind the actual time if we don’t adjust our watches. After a year we will be 2.5 minutes behind the time.
How can we manage time?
The International Earth Rotation and Reference System Service (IERS) had also announced that no “leap second” would be added to the worlds’ official timekeeping in December 2020.
In fact, scientists are also on the verge of introducing a “negative leap second“, i.e, subtracting a leap second from the 27 leap seconds added since 1972.
Reasons why days are shorter
A 2015 study published in Science Advances suggested that Global Warming can be the reason for the speedier rotation of the earth.
However, the speed also varies due to ocean currents, atmospheric pressure and movement of the core, which are not alarming causes. Also read: Did we just discover Super-Earth in a Six-Planet System?
We all hope that this is as normal as the scientists are claiming to be and it all ends with us adjusting our watches. Let us know, in the comments, how does this make you feel.