Earth is Speeding Up!

[Mandy D]

Apparently, after having had to add leap seconds to the calendar, the Earth's rotation is speeding up. So, we will probably have to take a second off at some point. Earth's record shortest day (fastest rotation) was on 29 June 2022 and was shorter by 1.59 milliseconds. So, after just two years of spinning at that rate we would be ready to subtract a whole second! Are we ready for that momentous occasion? 😂

https://earthsky.org/earth/earth-shortest-day-record-atomic-clock-leap-second/?utm_source=EarthSky+News&utm_campaign=f7acfc0501-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_02_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c643945d79-f7acfc0501-395658673&mc_cid=f7acfc0501&mc_eid=943d2b0a6a

[Stu]

At least we can’t be blamed for that……..can we? 😱🤪🤣

[Mandy D]

1 minute ago, Stu said:

At least we can’t be blamed for that……..can we? 😱🤪🤣

Hang on ... Politicians! They'll at least find a way to tax it based on angular momentum, if they knew what that was. Let's not tell them, huh? 🤣

[Rusted]

You're not taking this seriously enough!

At my age every millisecond counts!

[Gfamily]

1 hour ago, Mandy D said:

Hang on ... Politicians! They'll at least find a way to tax it based on angular momentum, if they knew what that was. Let's not tell them, huh? 🤣

You mean we can't talk the torque !

[DaveL59]

So will we be able to retire a smidgen earlier than we thought then? 😉 

[Rusted]

9 hours ago, DaveL59 said:

So will we be able to retire a smidgen earlier than we thought then? 😉 

Define "a smidgen."  This could be important!

[newbie alert]

I was on the understanding that earth would slow down on its rotation speed..

[Ratlet]

We've known this for ages.  Steve Miller Band wrote a song about it in the 80's althought they thought it was due to magic(according to the song):

"I speed up, I can't slow down.

You got me turning round and round...

Abra-abracadabra"

[Mandy D]

29 minutes ago, newbie alert said:

I was on the understanding that earth would slow down on its rotation speed..

The general trend is that the Earth's rotation will slow down, but it is influenced by so many external factors, that sometimes it can speed up. For example, Jupiter has enough mass to perturb the orbits of the other planets.

[newbie alert]

Jupiter certainly has enough mass but don't think it has any influence on earth spin... A quick search says there maybe a influence on earths climate from Jupiter and Venus, can't find anything on this affecting it's rotation.. earth has a natural wobble) chandler's effect 

[Paul M]

The tidal interaction between Earth and the Moon is slowly transfering Earth's rotational (angular) momentum to the Moon's orbital momentum. Earth's rotation has slowed from something like  an 18 hr day in prehistoric times but the Moon has got further away. As this continues, Earth's day gets ever longer and one day there will be a last ever total Solar Eclipse. The Moon will eventually recede to a distance that makes it's disk smaller than the Sun's in all Earth/Moon/Sun orbital configurations.

It was news to me that there is a bit of an overspeed going on just now. I hadn't noticed anything...

[DaveL59]

3 minutes ago, Paul M said:

The tidal interaction between Earth and the Moon is slowly transfering Earth's rotational (angular) momentum to the Moon's orbital momentum. Earth's rotation has slowed from something like  an 18 hr day in prehistoric times but the Moon has got further away. As this continues, Earth's day gets ever longer and one day there will be a last ever total Solar Eclipse. The Moon will eventually recede to a distance that makes it's disk smaller than the Sun's in all Earth/Moon/Sun orbital configurations.

It was news to me that there is a bit of an overspeed going on just now. I hadn't noticed anything...

hmm so the ice caps melting, more sea water mass, moon pulling that extra mass along, rotation accelerates a little bit...?

[Zeta Reticulan]

Does this mean I have to buy a new watch?

[DaveL59]

7 minutes ago, Zeta Reticulan said:

Does this mean I have to buy a new watch?

nah, just pop down the local watch repairer and get them to retune it 🙂 

[Zeta Reticulan]

2 minutes ago, DaveL59 said:

nah, just pop down the local watch repairer and get them to retune it 🙂 

They can repair watches?

[DaveL59]

12 minutes ago, Zeta Reticulan said:

They can repair watches?

but of course:

Rolex meets service tool 😉 

Edited August 5, 2022 by DaveL59

[globular]

23 minutes ago, DaveL59 said:

hmm so the ice caps melting, more sea water mass, moon pulling that extra mass along, rotation accelerates a little bit...?

I think the moon / ocean interaction slows rotation, not increases it.  So more ocean leads to more breaking not more acceleration.

Ice melting from a few big places and becoming more spread out throughout the oceans might mean the axis of rotation shifts a bit; which can change spin rate slightly.  This doesn't feel like the right explanation to me though.

Shrug.

[Zeta Reticulan]

4 minutes ago, DaveL59 said:

but of course:

Rolex meets service tool 😉 

Don't you have to say abracadabra first?

[DaveL59]

4 minutes ago, Zeta Reticulan said:

Don't you have to say abracadabra first?

only when using the magic wand 🙂 

[Zeta Reticulan]

8 hours ago, DaveL59 said:

only when using the magic wand 🙂 

That makes sense.

[SthBohemia]

Tis all due to having 2 many hamsters running around 2 quickly within their little wheels attached to their hamster houses 😞 

[Zeta Reticulan]

 

[Rusted]

This thread is conversation of momentous, innit? 

[Mandy D]

3 hours ago, Rusted said:

This thread is conversation of momentous, innit? 

Definitely conversation! Momentous? Not so sure! 😂