The Earth rotates once every 86,400 seconds, which is equivalent to 24 hours and one day, but scientists found that the Earth’s rotation in 2020 is the fastest in half a century, so that the atomic clock can not keep up with the current average daily rotation time is less than 24 hours, and it is expected that the rotation speed in 2021 may be even faster.
According to the Daily Telegraph reported that the British National Physical Laboratory (National Physical Laboratory) time and frequency group senior research scientist Whibberley (Peter Whibberley) said: “It is true, the Earth’s rotation is faster than at any time in the past 50 years faster than at any time in the last 50 years.”
The newspaper pointed out that after the invention of highly accurate atomic clocks in the 1960s, people were able to observe the standard length of the day, and the International Earth Rotation Service (IERS) timekeepers have been increasing the speed of the Earth’s rotation to keep up with the time by adding “leap seconds” since 1970, and the average speed of the Earth’s rotation has been on a downward trend for nearly 10 years.
It is understood that from mid-2020, the number of seconds per day is less than 86,400 seconds, and July 19, 2020 is 1.4602 milliseconds shorter than the full 24 hours, the shortest day on record for the atomic clock, breaking the record of July 5, 2005 by 1.0516 milliseconds, and the Earth’s current daily rotation time is less than 86,400 seconds, according to the average; Hubert Burley said. Lee said, “If the Earth’s rotation speed continues to increase, there is a chance that a ‘negative leap second’ will be needed, but it may be too early to talk about this.”
The speed of the Earth’s rotation is linked to the complex movements of the core, oceans, atmosphere, and the action of celestial bodies such as the moon, which rotate at ever-changing speeds, while some studies have pointed out that global warming has linked the melting of snow and ice at high altitudes to the Earth’s faster rotation, but the effect is not significant.
Recent Comments