The Earth's rotation is speeding up due to the rapidly melting polar ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica, causing world timekeepers to consider subtracting a second from clocks for the first time in history. The shift in mass towards Earth's waistline is slowing down the planet's rotation, affecting global timekeeping.
Drastic polar ice melt is slowing Earth’s rotation, counteracting a speedup from the planet’s liquid outer core. The upshot is that we might need to subtract a leap second for the first time ever within the decade https://t.co/LH8QdVfwj5
For example, to an observer on the moon, an Earth-based clock will appear to lose on average 58.7 microseconds per Earth-day with additional periodic variations,” the memo explains. https://t.co/7UkXOs2XBl
So Much Polar Ice Is Melting That It’s Slowing Down the Earth’s Rotation https://t.co/CHF9RWHcfK
Rapidly melting ice sheets atop Greenland and Antarctica are shifting more mass toward Earth’s waistline, which is slowing the planet's rotation. https://t.co/05ah4ABsXB
The rapidly accelerating melting of Earth’s polar ice sheets is slowing the planet’s spin, which affects global timekeeping. https://t.co/05ah4ABsXB
For the first time in history, world timekeepers may have to consider subtracting a second from our clocks because the planet is rotating faster. ⏰ https://t.co/JuQRTTPvmV
World clocks may lose a second as Earth spins faster https://t.co/svsQCu6N4h