Scientists have made a scary observation of our planet recently. They have said that our planet Earth has been completing its rotation quite faster than its usual time, which is 86400 seconds. The new report has shown that Earth has been taking only 1.4602 microseconds to complete its rotation, which is less than its earlier projected time. Experts have said that the velocity of Earth’s rotation has been changing due to the intricate motion of its molten core, ocean, and atmosphere. The effect of Earth’s natural satellite the moon as well contributes to the varying speed of Earth’s rotation. Scientists have said that the friction of the tides and variation in distance of the moon and Earth contribute to daily changes in the speed at which the planet rotates at its axis. The new report has said that accumulation of snow on mountains and melting in summer can change the speed of Earth’s rotation as well. Scientists have said that July 19 2020 has been reported as the shortest day since they have started keeping the records in the 1960s after extremely accurate atomic clocks have been made and compared the length of a standard day to preset stars in the sky.
The previous shortest day has been recorded in 2005 and it has been beaten nearly 28 times in 2020. Scientists have predicted that 2021 is going to be the fastest year ever in history where the average day will pass 0.5 milliseconds faster than usual. Experts have warned that Earth is speeding up and there will soon be a need for a negative leap second to align the atomic clocks with the turning world. This will be the first time when a second will be removed from global clocks. The senior research analyst Peter Whibberley from the National Physical Laboratory’s Time and Frequency Group has confirmed that our planet is rotating faster at present than at any time in the last 50 years. He has said that a negative leap second may be required if Earth continues to rotate at this speed. However, it is too early to confirm that it is going to happen any time soon.
Many international institutions have been discussing this issue to reach a decision on the need for a negative leap second. Last weekend, the solar day has ended in just 23 hours 59 minutes, and 59.9998927 seconds. It has slowed down and the solar day has lasted slightly more than 24 hours on Monday. Scientists have claimed that during 2021, atomic clocks might face a lag of around 19 milliseconds. However, people will take hundreds of years to observe this slight difference. New satellite communication and navigation systems depend on time being constant with the conventional position of the Sun, Moon, and stars.
