Earth's Accelerated Spin: Timekeepers Mull Removing a Leap Second
Earth Is Spinning Faster Than Expected, And We May Have To Subtract A Whole Second From The World's Clocks Introduction: A recent report from AP News has shed light on a proposal by timekeeping scientists to adjust the world's timekeeping systems due to the unexpected acceleration of Earth's rotation caused by climate change. This proposal involves subtracting a leap second from atomic clocks, marking an unprecedented move in timekeeping history. Understanding Timekeeping Adjustments: Since the 1970s, the addition of leap seconds has been a standard practice to align atomic time with the slightly slower astronomical time due to Earth's gradual deceleration. However, as Earth's rotation rate has begun to accelerate again, projections indicate a need for a negative leap second correction as early as 2026. Over the past decades, 27 leap seconds have been added to account for the slowing rotation. Implications for Precision Systems: While the changes in Earth's rot