This year, the Earth accelerated its rotation around its axis so much that the shortest day was recorded since scientists began using atomic clocks to measure the speed of its rotation. On June 29, 2022, the Earth completed one revolution 1.59 milliseconds faster than the standard 24 hours. This is another record in a series that has been recorded in recent years.
It is believed that the Earth makes a complete revolution around its axis in 86400 seconds or 24 hours. However, atomic clock measurements show that the Earth is gradually slowing down. Thus, a full turn takes a little longer. But in recent years, the reverse process has been observed – the Earth has accelerated its rotation. In 2020, the planet was reported to have reached 28 of the shortest days since accurate daily measurements using atomic clocks began in the 1960s. The shortest day in 2020 (July 19) was -1.47 milliseconds.
The Earth continued to rotate rapidly in 2021, although the shortest day of the year in 2021 was slightly longer than in 2020. In 2022, the Earth’s rotation accelerated again to record levels. On June 29, the Earth set a new record for the shortest day of the atomic clock era: -1.59 milliseconds. A month later, the planet fell slightly short of this record – on July 26, the length of the day was -1.50 milliseconds.
The following graph shows how the length of the day has fluctuated in recent years (according to IERS, International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service). There is a clear tendency to shorten the day and accelerate the rotation of the Earth.
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The narrow jagged peaks on the graph are the result of the Moon’s monthly revolution around the Earth. Longer and smoother waves – the shortest days occur around July of each year – are associated with movements in the Earth’s atmosphere.
Such a change in the speed of rotation of the planet can be associated with processes in the inner or outer layers of the Earth, oceans, tides or even climate. It may also be due to the Chandler wobble – a slight uneven shift of the geographic poles of the Earth across the surface of the globe.
In the past, to adjust UTC to Mean Solar Time, scientists sometimes resorted to adding one extra second to the day—a leap second. The last time this happened was in 2016. But if the Earth’s rapid rotation continues, it could lead to the first negative leap second in history. Thus, our clock will have to skip one second, which could potentially create problems for IT systems.
Source: timeanddate
