Hello web wanderers have you ever wondered what would happen if the earth will start spinning faster. Will the weather become harsh or will the earth be eventually flooded. Actually you may be right, the earth is spinning faster lately. But the consequences will not be the same as you've imagined.
The prologue
After reading that stupid intro, I can sense that most of you are confused. So, let's try and understand the whole case scenario. For decades now earth was slowing down. But unexpectedly it started spinning faster. 2020 witnessed the shortest day ever. And 2021 is expected to be even shorter, though the difference is only in milliseconds.
Why is the earth spinning faster?
Well there are many reasons like seismic activity, movement in earth's core and many more. But the more accepted theory is the melting of ice caps and glaciers due to global warming. This makes more solids water, which in turn makes earth rounder. Hence it starts spinning faster. Other than this the movement in the earth's core plays a very significant role.
Will it have any effect on us?
Yes, it will. Satellites need to be ultra accurate with time. Just imagine the vastness of earth's surface area. Even the change in order of milliseconds can cause a lag in the order of kilometers in the GPS. Most of our electronic devices are based on satellites, hence the broadcasting services, the radio, the TV, even the internet will stop working.
Solar time vs atomic time
We measure time with the help of atomic clocks called International atomic time. And the solar time is measured by noting the position of stars in the sky with respect to earth as timeanddate.com explained. All the world clocks are based on the International atomic time. But the satellites depend on the rotation of earth and it's position with respect to the sun and the stars. Hence they operate on solar time or the actual time of rotation. If the earth fastens up then the solar day will be shorter than International atomic time. Consequently, there will be lack in coordination between us and the satellites.
The solution
In order to sync the global time with the solar time we add or subtract what we call a "leap second". There is an organization called International Earth Rotation and reference System and services (IERS) which takes care of the delay between solar time and international atomic time. Whenever the difference in time exceeds 0.9 seconds a leap second is added or subtracted. Now with this inclusion, the solar time and our global time are back in sync or the satellites and other communication devices are synced. As I already mentioned earth was slowing down for decades. Hence, we needed to add a second to our global time to match up. But this is the first time we are adding a negative leap second or subtracting a second from our global time.
To summarize the earth is indeed rotating faster which causes lag between our clocks and the actual solar time, which can be corrected by subtracting a second from our clocks to match up with the solar clock. And if it continues to be speeding up at this rate 2021 may be the shortest year ever.
Do correct me if I've made any mistake. Also I was greatly inspired by Ecowatch and their post on the same topic, the link to which will be shared below including some other references.
References
Ecowatch- Earth Is Spinning Faster Than Ever
USA today- Scientists say Earth is spinning faster than it has in decades
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If you have any doubts, please let me know.