Timekeepers may have to consider subtracting a second from our clocks for the first time in history. According to a study by Nature, this event will happen in about 2029. The lead author of the study, Duncan Agnew, says that this event is a big deal, and is an indication that we are in an unusual time. But what effects will this bring? How will it change the world? And will it have any effect on us? This article will discuss this topic, answer your questions, and give some facts about something which is set to happen in a few years.
The Earth Is Spinning Faster
You might have learnt, while you were still in school (think back to years and years ago), that the earth was slowing down. Possibly, you clicked on this article expecting to see the answer: no, to the title, Is the Earth Spinning Faster? Well, maybe, this was true years and years ago.
Though the rate of slowing varies, the earth has been generally slowing down over the years, mainly due to the effect of the tides which are caused by the pull of the moon. 55 years ago, atomic clocks were established as the official time standard. Atomic clocks are clocks which measure time through the frequency of atoms. This is a useful way of measuring, as it is extremely accurate. But, there is a catch. The establishment of atomic clocks also established two different versions of time: astronomical and atomic. Astronomical time was the naturally occurring time based on astronomical events. The other was the time which was newly established by humans, which kept a constant pace. Though the differences are tiny, astronomical time falls behind atomic by about 2.5 milliseconds daily, says Agnew from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. These tiny fractions of time eventually add up to whole seconds every few years. In fact, in 2016, 2017 or maybe 2018, the slowdown rate slowed to the point where Earth was speeding up. Though this would have been happening for centuries, it would have been masked by the opposite effect of icebergs melting.
Cause
The cause of this phenomenon is largely due to the earth’s hot liquid core, described as a “large ball of molten fluid”, which acts in unpredictable ways. The complicated situation involves physics and is largely influenced by climate change.
Challenges and Complications
Though this phenomenon won’t largely affect our everyday lives, it does still have challenges which we need to overcome. Below, we will discuss some of the biggest ones:
Disruption To Systems
You may be wondering how such a small event can cause disruptions to systems. Well, you may be surprised to hear that it may create a big, if not huge disruption - at least to Russia. Russia’s satellite system depends on astronomical time, rather than atomic time. Therefore, removing seconds would disrupt its functionality, thus, causing problems with researchers, scientists, government officials, and more. Even computer systems such as Reddit, Linux and Qantas Airways have experienced issues due to this.
Disagreements
Another problem the event is causing is disagreements. For example, people who generally rely on Russian satellites would disagree with modifying the time as it would cause a disruption in their research (or whatever they are doing). This topic has already come under heavy debate with University professors, scientists, researchers and more.
Though there will, no doubt, be challenges to overcome disagreements, to follow and possible disruptions to cope with, this event is also deeply interesting and has already triggered researchers and scientists to research deeper. Major tech companies such as Google and Amazon have already developed a solution by gradually changing their time over many months.
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