Climate change is having a significant impact on the Earth’s rotation rate and weather-keeping, according to a recent study. The accelerated melting of ice from Greenland and Antarctica causes additional water to enter the world’s oceans, leading to a redistribution of mass. This process causes the Earth’s rotation to slow down very slightly, although the planet is still spinning faster than in the past.
As a result of these changes, global timekeepers may have to subtract a second from our clocks later than originally intended. Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which is used globally to regulate clocks and time, is calculated based on the Earth’s rotation. However, since the Earth’s rotation rate is not constant, it can affect 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 accelerating melting of the polar ice, a “negative leap second” — subtracting a second from the world clock — would be necessary in 2026. Duncan Agnew, the study’s author, expressed surprise at the measurable impact humans are having on the Earth’s rotation. He noted that these changes are unprecedented and indicate significant effects of climate change on our planet.
In conclusion, climate change is causing subtle but meaningful changes in how we measure time on Earth. While we may not notice these small adjustments in our daily lives, they serve as a reminder of how even slight changes in our environment can have far-reaching consequences for our planet and its inhabitants.