The Earth will “stand still” in 2029: the alarm about the Earth's rotation

the Earth's rotation It's one of those aspects that we don't think about at all. Not only perhaps because of a lack of scientific knowledge about the benefits, but also because we simply don't realize it. We know that the Earth makes a complete rotation on its axis in less than a day and we see it doing so because we correctly associate rotation with sunrise and sunset, for example.

Our planet rotates at a very high speed If the Earth stopped Suddenly the effects will be catastrophic and we will be thrown into space with everything around us. Such a nightmare Scientists According to experts, they are sounding the alarm The Earth will “stop” in 2029. Behind this danger lies one of the biggest problems of our time: global warming.

Earth's rotation will slow down in 2029

In the near future the entire population of the world They will lose again Of their lives. This is what a new study has revealed as another result of human activity.

As we know, the hours and minutes that define days are determined by the Earth's rotation. The latter is not constant and can undergo slight changes, which depend on what happens on the surface and in the core. These are imperceptible changes, which nevertheless lead to the necessity of adjusting the world's clocks, with the addition of the so-called “leap second” once every four years.

As the rotation slows down, this routine will be modified and for the first time it will be necessary to remove another routine rather than add it. D 2029 Therefore it will be presented Second negative jumpwhich was initially scheduled to be introduced in 2026, has been postponed for three years.

No scientist expected that we would reach the point of having to eliminate the leap second, which is evidence that something unprecedented is happening.

What does it mean that there will be one second less

Negative leap seconds have not been tested in the past and, like all new things, can lead to problems problems It is difficult to predict with certainty. According to specialists, problems may arise for satellite navigation systems, computers and financial markets.

Let's try to give an example. If your computer doesn't recognize this small difference, it won't be able to sync with the rest of the network. If the online store's computer and the bank's computer register different times, clicking the “Order” button will show two actions at two different times. He added: “One second does not seem like a lot, but in today's interconnected world it can lead to huge problems.” Professor Agnew In an article published on nature. “Many systems now have software that can accept an extra second, but few allow you to remove a second.”

What are the causes of this phenomenon?

How can climate change affect Earth's rotation? Easy to say. the Melting snow In Greenland and Antarctica, it slows down the Earth's angular velocity. The slowdown causes a series of cascading effects, starting with the impact on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), known as jet lagWhich has undergone periodic corrections since 1972. “The melting of glaciers changes the distribution of mass and thus the shape of our planet, which is not spherical but geoid,” he explained. Massimo FrisottiGlaciologist and professor at Roma Tre University.

Over the past 40 years, the speed of ice melting has increased approximately six times, enough to affect the speed of the Earth's rotation, with all the associated consequences that we have yet to verify in practice. This is just one of the alarms raised by astronomers around the world. Another talks about the possibility of saying Goodbye to winter Due to the change in the tilt of the Earth's axis.