{"id":211486,"date":"2022-08-02T13:17:21","date_gmt":"2022-08-02T11:17:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=211486"},"modified":"2022-08-02T13:17:22","modified_gmt":"2022-08-02T11:17:22","slug":"oh-my-days-midnight-comes-a-fraction-sooner-as-earth-spins-faster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=211486","title":{"rendered":"Oh, my days! Midnight comes a fraction sooner as Earth spins faster"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Nasa is reported as suggesting that \u2018stronger winds in El Ni\u00f1o years can slow down the planet\u2019s spin\u2019, can we \u2013 on the basis of no research at all \u2013 nominate La Ni\u00f1a as a suspect here? Just trying to be helpful, as MSN claims: Experts confused after earth spins faster<\/a>.<\/em>
\u2013 \u2013 \u2013
Analysis: Reflecting a recent trend, 29 June was the shortest day on our planet since the 1960s. What\u2019s going on? \u2013 wonders The Guardian<\/a>.<\/em>
. . .
If time feels tighter than ever of late, blame it on the revolution. On 29 June this year, Earth racked up an unusual record: its shortest day since the 1960s, when scientists began measuring the planet\u2019s rotation with high-precision atomic clocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Broadly speaking, Earth completes one full turn on its axis every 24 hours. That single spin marks out a day and drives the cycle of sunrise and sunset that has shaped patterns of life for billions of years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the curtains fell early on 29 June, with midnight arriving 1.59 milliseconds sooner than expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The past few years have seen a flurry of records fall, with shorter days being notched up ever more frequently. In 2020, the Earth turned out 28 of the shortest days in the past 50 years, with the shortest of those, on 19 July, shaving 1.47 milliseconds off the 86,400 seconds that make up 24 hours. The 29 June record came close to being broken again last month, when 26 July came in 1.5 milliseconds short.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So is the world speeding up? Over the longer term \u2013 the geological timescales that compress the rise and fall of the dinosaurs into the blink of an eye \u2013 the Earth is actually spinning more slowly than it used to. Wind the clock back 1.4bn years and a day would pass in less than 19 hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On average, then, Earth days are getting longer rather than shorter, by about one 74,000th of a second each year. The moon is mostly to blame for the effect: the gravitational tug slightly distorts the planet, producing tidal friction that steadily slows the Earth\u2019s rotation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To keep clocks in line with the planet\u2019s spin, the International Telecommunication Union, a United Nations body, has taken to adding occasional leap seconds in June or December \u2013 most recently in 2016 \u2013 effectively stopping the clocks for a second so that the Earth can catch up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first leap second was added in 1972. The next opportunity is in December 2022, although with Earth spinning so fast of late, it is unlikely to be needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the Earth is slowing down over the longer term, the situation is messier on shorter timescales. Inside the Earth is a molten core; its surface is a mass of shifting continents, swelling oceans and vanishing glaciers. The entire planet is wrapped in a thick blanket of gases and it wobbles as it spins on its axis. All of these influence the Earth\u2019s rotation, speeding it up or slowing it down, although the changes are essentially imperceptible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Nasa, stronger winds in El Ni\u00f1o years can slow down the planet\u2019s spin, extending the day by a fraction of a millisecond. Earthquakes, on the other hand, can have the opposite effect. The 2004 earthquake that unleashed a tsunami in the Indian Ocean shifted enough rock to shorten the length of the day by nearly three microseconds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anything that moves mass towards the centre of the Earth will speed up the planet\u2019s rotation, much as a spinning ice skater speeds up when they pull in their arms. Geological activity that pushes mass outwards from the centre will have the opposite effect and slow down the spin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How all these different processes come together to affect the length of a day is a question scientists are still wrestling with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full article\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n


\u2013 \u2013 \u2013
Update \u2013 new record<\/strong>:\u00a0On July 29, the Earth broke its record for the shortest day<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

via Tallbloke\u2019s Talkshop<\/mark><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/ift.tt\/4nrieMm<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

August 1, 2022<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As Nasa is reported as suggesting that \u2018stronger winds in El Ni\u00f1o years can slow down the planet\u2019s spin\u2019, can we \u2013 on the basis of no research at all \u2013 nominate La Ni\u00f1a as a suspect here? Just trying to be helpful, as MSN claims: Experts confused after earth spins faster.\u2013 \u2013 \u2013Analysis: Reflecting a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":211487,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-211486","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","9":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/00earthspace.jpg?fit=900%2C900&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-T14","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":431545,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=431545","url_meta":{"origin":211486,"position":0},"title":"From Shortest Days Ever to the Fastest Slowdown in 3.6 Million Years: How Earth’s Rotation Tells Two Stories at Once","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"16\/03\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"There are two different headlines describe the exact same planet\u2014but on completely different timescales. 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