Melting Polar Ice Slows Earth\'s Rotation, Leading to Possible Leap Second

Published: 27 March 2024 at 21:13

Science

Melting polar ice, due to human-driven climate change, has slowed down Earth\'s rotation slightly, requiring possible subtraction of a second from clocks around 2029 to align universal time with the changes. The Earth\'s rotation has sped up overall, but the melting ice offsets this acceleration by redistributing mass. This phenomenon, likened to an ice skater twirling, is explained by geophysicist Duncan Agnew, attributing the changes to the ice melt in Greenland and Antarctica.

$Melting Polar Ice Slows Earth\'s Rotation, Leading to Possible Leap Second$ $Melting Polar Ice Slows Earth\'s Rotation, Leading to Possible Leap Second$ $Melting Polar Ice Slows Earth\'s Rotation, Leading to Possible Leap Second$ $Melting Polar Ice Slows Earth\'s Rotation, Leading to Possible Leap Second$ $Melting Polar Ice Slows Earth\'s Rotation, Leading to Possible Leap Second$ $Melting Polar Ice Slows Earth\'s Rotation, Leading to Possible Leap Second$ $Melting Polar Ice Slows Earth\'s Rotation, Leading to Possible Leap Second$ $Melting Polar Ice Slows Earth\'s Rotation, Leading to Possible Leap Second$ $Melting Polar Ice Slows Earth\'s Rotation, Leading to Possible Leap Second$ $Melting Polar Ice Slows Earth\'s Rotation, Leading to Possible Leap Second$ $Melting Polar Ice Slows Earth\'s Rotation, Leading to Possible Leap Second$ $Melting Polar Ice Slows Earth\'s Rotation, Leading to Possible Leap Second$

SOURCES

Earth is spinning faster than it used to. Clocks might have to skip a second to keep up.

CBS News

A faster-spinning Earth may cause timekeepers to subtract ‘negative leap second’ in 2029

NY Post

Climate change is altering Earth’s rotation enough to mess with our clocks

Washington Post

A faster spinning Earth may cause timekeepers to subtract a second from world clocks

ABC News

Melting polar ice is slowing the Earth's rotation, with possible consequences for timekeeping

Yahoo! News

Polar ice is melting and changing Earth’s rotation. It’s messing with time itself

Yahoo! News

A faster spinning Earth may cause timekeepers to subtract a second from world clocks

Yahoo! News

Scientists say a negative 'leap second' will be needed in 2029

Jonathan Chadwick

Melting ice, missing seconds.

The Verge

A faster spinning Earth may cause timekeepers to subtract a second from world clocks

https://apnews.com/author/seth-borenstein

Melting polar ice is slowing the Earth's rotation, with possible consequences for timekeeping

NBC

Polar ice is melting and changing Earth’s rotation. It’s messing with time itself | CNN

Laura Paddison, Rachel Ramirez

Human-driven climate change has 'slowed the Earth's rotation' and could affect how we measure time, study suggests

Sky News