Earth is spinning faster than it used to. Clocks might have to skip a second to keep up.

CBS News ^

[MNDude]

Earth's changing spin is threatening to toy with our sense of time, clocks and computerized society in an unprecedented way — but only for a second.

For the first time in history, world timekeepers may have to consider subtracting a second from our clocks in a few years because the planet is rotating a tad faster than it used to. Clocks may have to skip a second — called a "negative leap second" — around 2029, a study in the journal Nature said Wednesday.

[SaveFerris]

That’s what I have to do just to fix my current cheap watch

Love it - but keep on bumping the buttons - next thing I know, it’s all wacked-out in some other mode

Armitron - think I paid $5 for it - still going on the same battery for at least 5 years now

Got a 2nd one on deck- it’s still rolling too 5 years - it’s in the original packaging/case next to the computer

I love the watches - except that the buttons stack the pushes - I wish they’d time out on the push after a few seconds - then the watch wouldn’t go into crazy modes

I’d read the instructions - except they’re about the right size for microfilm

I’ve actually got a couple of very nice watches - prizes

BUT don’t want to wear them in case of scratches

Bought a Steve Harvey watch (LOL) when I got a couple of new suits - was gonna bling-bling - well, the watch needs a battery now - and the suits pretty much sit idle

[roving]

Yesterday, they said it was slowing down.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

The slowing has absolutely nothing to do with relativistic time dilation. It is difference between an atomic clock at sea level, co-rotating with the earth’s surface and time determined by rotational rate of the earth.

[telescope115]

What you posted is exactly right. Many many non-eclipse moons ago, I did a talk for the astronomy club I belong to about this very subject.

[Wuli]

It was not long ago that scientists were saying the earth was spinning slower than it was a century earlier.

[blueunicorn6]

I’m so confused!

[ProtectOurFreedom]

It is a HUGE deal and people don’t know it. Many of our modern systems require millisecond (maybe microsecond) accuracy to keep GPS properly working, atomic clocks synched, utility frequency regulation synched and lots others.

[Retain Mike]

I will send these two stories to people on my email list just in case some are still using the major networks to find their news. As Mark Twain said, “If you don’t read the papers you are uninformed. If you read the papers you are misinformed”.

NBC news reports: Melting polar ice is slowing the Earth's rotation, with possible consequences for timekeeping. A study published Wednesday found that the melting of polar ice — an accelerating trend driven primarily by human-caused climate change — has caused the Earth to spin less quickly than it would otherwise.

https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/melting-ice-slowing-earth-rotation-may-affect-time-rcna145009

CBS news reports: Earth is spinning faster than it used to. Clocks might have to skip a second to keep up. Earth's changing spin is threatening to toy with our sense of time, clocks and computerized society in an unprecedented way — but only for a second. For the first time in history, world timekeepers may have to consider subtracting a second from our clocks in a few years because the planet is rotating a tad faster than it used to.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/earth-spinning-time-second-removed-world-clocks/

[jacknhoo]

Tell Chuck Norris to do his roundhouse kicks in the other direction.

[Owen]

The most recent stuff I came across concerning this matter had to do with subduction fault earthquakes.

In these, a tectonic plate is forced under another. This makes the earth smaller. A tiny bit smaller, with the mass moving towards the core. It is the figure skater spinning and pulling arms in versus out. Pulling in speeds them up.

This stuff about the ocean is likely stupid. Average ocean depth is 12,000 feet (call it 2 miles). Radius of the Earth is 3950 miles. If you added a foot to sea level that would be a change of 0.008% depth, and that ocean total is 0.004% of the radius. So this melting stuff is 0.008% of 0.004%.

My money is on tectonic plate subduction. The spin is increasing a bit.

[alancarp]

Just waiting on the usual Congress critters to raise the alarm about being thrown off the planet due to the increased spin rate.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Global Warming slows the earth!!

The icecaps have been melting since the last ice age. The displacement of that mass from poles towards the equator will increase the moment of inertia of the earth, and the earth has been slowing measurably for at least two thousand years. Ancient historical records of eclipses going back to the Babylonians clearly show this. Long before SUVs. Sir Edmund Halley thought that the orbit of the moon was speeding up, but today we know that the moon's orbit is slowing, slightly, and the earth's rotation is slowing even more.

[Yo-Yo]

The slowing has absolutely nothing to do with relativistic time dilation. It is difference between an atomic clock at sea level, co-rotating with the earth’s surface and time determined by rotational rate of the earth.

No, I'm not saying that the Earth spinning faster has anything to do with time dilatation. Telescope115 and I were talking about clocks in orbit compared to clocks on Earth.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Which has nothing to do with thread?

[Yo-Yo]

Which has nothing to do with thread?

It did get sidetracked, yes.

[Bob434]

I thought I was dizzier than usual!

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Been there, done that. You might enjoy this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hafele%E2%80%93Keating_experiment#:~:text=The%20Hafele%E2%80%93Keating%20experiment%20was,atomic%20clocks%20aboard%20commercial%20airliners.

[The Great RJ]

Certainly caused by “climate change”

[Karl Spooner]

[Ahithophel]

Distance traveled in a light-year is gonna increase obviously.