Q24N — Do you know that widespread feeling that one day isn’t enough to solve all the problems that await us? Well, you should know that today, Wednesday, July 9th, that idea could become partially true.
This is because there’s a high probability that this will be one of the shortest days in the history of our planet.
Although no scientist knows exactly what’s behind this phenomenon, recent studies reveal that the Earth’s rotation, the movement it makes on its axis, appears to have accelerated in the last five years.
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But don’t worry: the change is so subtle that no adjustment to the clock hands is necessary. However, some more sensitive equipment (such as satellites or GPS) may require technical adjustments.
Accelerated Rotation
The warning was issued by astrophysicist Graham Jones of the website timeandate.com, who makes precise time measurements with advanced tools.
In a post, the expert explains that the Earth’s complete rotation lasts exactly 86,400 seconds, the equivalent of 24 hours.
However, since 2020, the planet appears to have accelerated.
During summer in the Northern Hemisphere and winter in the Southern Hemisphere, the Earth completed its rotation a few milliseconds faster than expected.
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To put this in perspective, a millisecond is very small—it’s equivalent to 0.001 seconds. A blink of an eye lasts 100 milliseconds. And the flapping of a bee’s wings lasts about 5 milliseconds.
But back to the topic at hand: according to Graham, before 2020, the shortest day ever recorded by atomic clocks, which measure time with great precision, was -1.05 milliseconds.
In practice, this means that the complete rotation on its axis was completed moments before the clock struck 86,400 seconds.
Atomic clocks
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And this has been happening frequently lately: in recent years, this shortening of the day has occurred every year.
A record of -1.66 milliseconds was recorded on July 5, 2024, as well as -1.47 on July 9, 2021, -1.59 on June 30, 2022, and -1.31 on June 16, 2023.
Experts project that this “loss of time” will likely be repeated in 2025.
According to Jones, this could happen on three specific dates in the coming weeks: July 9, July 22, and August 5.
On these days, the Moon is farther from the equator and exerts less gravitational influence.
And the prediction is that the rotation will complete between -1.30 and -1.51 milliseconds on these stipulated dates.
Why is this happening?
How can this “acceleration” of the Earth be explained? Scientists are still not entirely sure.
An article written by Jones cites some possible explanations.
“Long-term variations in the Earth’s rotational speed can be affected by a variety of factors, including the complex motions of the planet’s core, oceans, and atmosphere,” he writes.
The fact that atomic clocks capable of more precise measurements have only been available since the 1950s also makes it difficult to understand these long-term dynamics.
In the same article, researcher Leonid Zotov, considered a world authority on the Earth’s rotational motions, admits that no one expected such a phenomenon.
“Most scientists believe this has something to do with the planet’s interior. Oceanographic and atmospheric models aren’t sufficient to explain this massive acceleration,” notes the expert, who works at Moscow State University, Russia.
Zotov projects that the trend for the coming years will be a reversal of the phenomenon. As a result, the planet we inhabit will enter a phase of deceleration.
Clocks
The way we perceive the passage of time has changed throughout history. Getty Images
Rotation is not a constant movement
In an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today program in the UK, Professor Hannah Fry said: “Throughout history, we have always defined our time according to the speed of the Earth’s rotation.”
“But our planet isn’t very good at measuring time. After all, we live on a somewhat irregular rock floating in space,” joked the Professor of Public Understanding of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge (UK).
Fry emphasizes that rotation is not a constant motion and has undergone significant variations throughout the geological eras.
“The planet used to spin much faster in the past. We can verify this by analyzing ancient corals and counting their inner rings, similar to how we do with trees,” he explains.
“About 430 million years ago, the year had 420 days,” he explains. “In other words, there were many more nights between each birthday.”
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