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<h1 class="css-19v093x">The Earth has been spinning
faster lately</h1>
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<div class="css-7kp13n">By</div>
<div class="css-7ol5x1"><span class="css-1q5ec3n">Bob
Yirka</span></div>
<div class="css-8rl9b7">phys.org</div>
<div class="css-zskk6u">2 min</div>
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<p>Scientists around the world have noted that
the Earth has been spinning on its axis
faster lately—the fastest ever recorded.
Several scientists have <a
href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2021/01/04/earth-spinning-faster-now-time-past-half-century/">spoken</a>
to the press about the unusual phenomenon,
with some pointing out that this past year
saw some of the shortest days ever recorded.</p>
<section>
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<p>For most of the history of mankind, time
has been marked by the 24-hour day/night
cycle (with some alterations made for
convenience as the seasons change). The
cycle is governed by the speed at which the
planet spins on its axis. Because of that,
the length of a day has become the standard
by which time is marked—each day lasts
approximately 86,400 seconds. The day/night
cycle is remarkably consistent despite the
fact that it actually varies slightly on a
regular basis.</p>
<p>Several decades ago, the development of
atomic clocks began allowing scientists to
record the passage of time in incredibly
small increments, in turn, allowing for
measuring the length of a given day down to
the millisecond. And that has led to the
discovery that the spin of the planet is
actually far more variable than once
thought. Since such measurements began,
scientists have also found that the Earth
was slowing its spin very gradually
(compensated by the insertion of a leap
second now and then)—until this past year,
when it began spinning faster—so much so
that some in the field have begun to wonder
if a negative leap negative second might be
needed this year, an unprecedented
suggestion. Scientists also noted that this
past summer, on July 19, the shortest day
ever was recorded—it was 1.4602 milliseconds
shorter than the standard.</p>
<p>Planetary scientists are not concerned
about the new finding; they have learned
that there are many factors that have an
impact on planetary spin—including the
moon's pull, snowfall levels and mountain
erosion. They also have begun wondering if <a
rel="tag"
href="https://phys.org/tags/global+warming/">global
warming</a> might push the Earth to spin
faster as the snow caps and high-altitude
snows begin disappearing. Computer
scientists, on the other hand, are somewhat
concerned about the shifting spin speed—so
much of <a rel="tag"
href="https://phys.org/tags/modern+technology/">modern
technology</a> is based on what they
describe as "true time." Adding a negative
leap second could lead to problems, so some
have suggested shifting the world's clocks
from solar time to atomic <a rel="tag"
href="https://phys.org/tags/time/">time</a>.</p>
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