Earth smashes record for the shortest day

On July 29, Earth completed a full spin in about 1.59 milliseconds. 

It is common knowledge that the Earth rotates on its axis for about 24 hours. But significant seismic shifts are occurring in this acknowledged reality. On July 29, Earth completed a full spin in around 1.59 milliseconds less time than usual, according to scientists ( 23 hours and 56 minutes). It should be noted that the blue planet has spun faster before. However, atomic clocks have lately shown that the Earth’s rotation is accelerating quickly. The shortest day of the year was July 19 in 2020, which also happened to be the shortest month on record for Earth. There were 1.47 milliseconds left in the day. The Earth continued to rotate at a substantially faster rate the next year, but no records were broken. Earth’s fastest rotation ever occurred on June 29, 2022, and a day that lasted 1.50 milliseconds shorter on July 26 of that same year occurred. According to estimates, the globe may continue to experience shorter days in the years to come. According to the news source Interesting Engineering (IE), Earth may be entering a 50-year phase of shorter days right now.

What about the “leap seconds”?

It had been believed, up until a few years ago, that the Earth’s rotation was slowing down as a result of numerous subsequent atomic clock readings made since 1973. In order to account for the slower spin, the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS) had even started to occasionally add leap seconds (it last happened on December 31, 2016). That may still be the case over a longer length of time; the Earth’s rotation may still be generally slowing down. After all, the Earth’s rotation is being slowed down over time by the Moon. Tides are produced by its gravitational pull, and the Earth’s orbital path around the Sun is slightly elliptical.

How fast is the Earth spinning?

Atomic clocks have just revealed that the Earth’s rotation is presently accelerating. In fact, a 50-year phase of shorter days may be starting right now. Scientists noted that 2020 has the 28 shortest days since 1960. The shortest day in 2021 was longer than it was in 2020, reversing the trend from the previous year. But on June 29, 2022, our planet made its fastest-ever rotation, and on July 26, 2022, there was a day that lasted 1.50 milliseconds less. The Earth rotated in 1.4602 milliseconds in less than 24 hours on July 19, 2020, breaking the previous record for the shortest revolution.

Why is earth speeding up?

There are now no clear explanations for why Earth has started spinning so quickly. However, numerous well-respected hypotheses are currently in circulation. Some assert that the melting of glaciers is to blame for the decrease in weight of poles. Others see that throughout time, the molten core of our planet’s interior moves. While some think that earthquake activity may be to blame, Others think that the “Chandler wobble,” or little tilt of the Earth’s geographic poles over its surface, is to blame.

What are the consequences?

Because atomic clocks, which are used in GPS satellites, don’t account for the Earth’s shifting rotation, it has an impact on how quickly the planet is rotating. The Earth will arrive at its destination a little early if it spins more quickly. At the equator, 10 inches or 26 centimeters are equal to half a nanosecond. In brief, the general relativity theory (the curvature of space and time) influence on GPS satellites, which now requires correction, is quickly going to become useless. Additionally, there could be unexpected impacts for Network Time Protocol (NTP) servers that are used by communications systems, smartphones, and computers to synchronize time. It is measured as the duration since January 1, 1970, at 00:00:00 UTC. International timekeepers may need to add a “drop second”—a negative leap second—to resolve all of this. Although a slowdown is unavoidable, Earth may already be spinning as fast as it ever can. Time will only tell.