Why is the Earth spinning so fast and what could happen

Not every day consists of 24 hours, or rather, it is not very precisely. The 29 July 2022 Indeed, a historical shift has been recorded in the atomic clock, giving life to what has been determined at the scientific level Shortest day ever recorded.

with Spin faster than usualA phenomenon that scientists are still unable to fully explain, our planet exhibits somewhat unusual behavior, so much so that it reflects the trend that has prompted scientists in recent decades to develop a time-calculation system capable of adapting to the timing fluctuations of the Earth’s rotation.

So today we are trying to identify one or more the reasons Most of all to give an explanation of all this in light of the episodes that, as of 2020, follow each other at an increasing pace, gradually shortening the days by some imperceptible but crucial milliseconds.

Is the Earth spinning faster?

Atomic clocks available to the scientific community have measured the Earth’s rotation faster than usual on a single day, July 29, which actually ended 1.59ms earlier The usual 24 hours have expired.

This is not the first time that such an “anomaly” in the duration of the Earth’s rotation has been recorded, even if the last record dates back to 1960. The surprising fact is that in past decades it was believed to be the opposite, that is, the Earth was slowing down and not accelerating. It is precisely because of this belief that so-called “leap seconds” have been used, that is, the addition or subtraction of milliseconds from the coordinated universal time to maintain its coordination with the mean solar day.

From 2020 However, scientists are beginning to record a trend reversal by reporting shorter and shorter days for what is actually an uneven record.

Causes and Consequences: Climate Change and More

The truth is that it is not known for certain why the Earth is spinning faster. But not for this reason, scholars do not devote their interest and concern to the issue with the research they see as prevailing Three main theoriesAll are equally reasonable and reasonable.

First of all, this phenomenon can be related to the melting of the ice caps or the lightening of the two terrestrial regions that affect the rotation of the planet. Another possibility relates to the patterns of the Earth’s inner core that for two years has gone through a period of turbulence and thus would not have been predicted and could be prevented in any way in its hypothetical evolution.

Likewise, we think of the “fox oscillation” or small oscillations of the Earth’s axis that were first studied by astronomer Seth Carlo Chandler in 1891. Specifically, it is a secondary motion of our planet, given by its non-sphericity, which has as an effect the periodic shift of the axis Earth rotates 3-4 meters from the North Pole for 433 days. Further studies will be needed to validate the latter hypothesis, but for now it remains the most probable one.

Coming instead to The visible effects of the phenomenon We can report many of them but the most immediately unique are related to our electronic devices. In particular, we may encounter issues with accuracy and inconvenience with GPS systems or inaccuracies in synchronizing the clocks of digital gadgets such as computers, smartphones and smartwatches.

Fortunately, these problems can be solved by introducing negative leap seconds, but if this phenomenon is linked to the climate crisis, the long-term possibility could further adapt our lives more realistically and sensitively.