Slowing down time: How climate change is affecting Earth’s rotation and what it means for our daily lives

A study has revealed that climate change is affecting the speed of Earth’s rotation, which could potentially impact how time is kept. The melting of polar ice, particularly from Greenland and Antarctica, is causing additional water to enter the world’s seas and leading to a redistribution of mass. This process is slowing down the Earth’s rotation slightly, although the planet is still spinning faster than in the past.

As a result of these changes, global timekeepers may need to subtract a second from our clocks later than originally anticipated. Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which is used globally to regulate clocks and time, takes into account the Earth’s rotation rate. However, since this rate is not constant, it can impact the length of our days and nights. To account for these variations, approximately 27 seconds known as leap seconds have been added since the 1970s to maintain the accuracy of our time.

The study suggests that without the accelerating melt of polar ice, a “negative leap second” – subtracting a second from world clocks – would have been necessary in 2026. Duncan Agnew, who authored the study, was surprised by the measurable impact humans have had on the Earth’s rotation. He emphasized that these changes are unprecedented and underscored the significant effects of climate change on our planet.

In conclusion, climate change is not only having an impact on our environment but also on our daily lives by altering how we keep time. It highlights how crucial it is for us to continue addressing this global issue to prevent any further negative impacts on both ourselves and our planet.