Scientists predict a day will last 25 hours as ‘Earth slows down’ | Science | News
It is said that the world is slowing down (Image: Getty Images)
Scientists predict that a day in the future could be up to 25 hours longer due to the “slowing down” of the Earth. But they believe that the rate of slowdown is so slight that it is almost unnoticeable in daily life.
Researchers attribute the change in speed to the constant gravitational tug of war between the Earth and the Moon. This force, which essentially acts as a brake on the Earth, is the same force that controls the tides. Although we consider a day to be 24 hours, NASA states that the Earth’s orbit is not a perfect circle. Some days are slightly longer than 24 hours, while others are slightly shorter.
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The Moon slows down the Earth (Image: Roberto Moiola/Getty Images)
Another way to measure the length of a day is to calculate how long it takes the Earth to complete a full rotation, known as a sidereal day. It is currently estimated that it takes approximately 23 hours and 56 minutes for the Earth to rotate fully.
Meanwhile, the Moon rules Earth’s oceans through its gravitational force. Although the tidal bulges are not perfectly aligned with the Moon, they create a rise and fall in tides as the planet rotates, according to Econews.
This is because the ocean and seafloor create friction, which “steals” some of the rotational energy from the Earth. Simultaneously, the Moon accelerates slightly as a result of this phenomenon.
As a result, the Earth is also moving 3.8 cm further from the Moon each year, and the length of a day is said to increase by about 2.3 milliseconds per century due to this gradual slowdown. And while this may seem “surprisingly small,” the space agency argues it has a “cumulative effect” on the planet. This means that Earth could lose around 40 seconds over the course of a century and find itself an hour “behind schedule” by the end of the millennium.
planet earth (Image: Public Domain/Getty Images)
But the Earth is not slowing down at a consistent rate. Scientists note that “non-tidal effects of climate change”, which include factors such as global warming, polar ice caps and the dynamics of the Earth’s molten core, make it “impossible” to predict the change.
The United States National Institute of Standards and Technology states that “leap seconds” enable Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) to keep pace with the time it takes for the Earth to complete one complete rotation; This calculation is described as “standard” in all timekeeping methods.
Currently, International Atomic Time, measured using 450 atomic clocks located in 80 laboratories, is 37 seconds off UTC. The last “leap second” was added in December 2016.
Scientists estimate that if the Earth and Moon continue to function as they do now, a day could be 25 hours long in 200 million years. But the Moon is not the only factor affecting the Earth’s rotation.
Earth’s rotation is also affected by climate change (Image: Getty)
A NASA-funded study discovered that the redistribution of large masses such as ice and water could also slow down the planet. The following statements were made in the statement: “These shifts in mass cause the planet to shake and its axis to shift as it rotates; this situation is called polar motion.
“They also cause the Earth’s rotation to slow down, measured by the lengthening of the day. Both have been recorded since 1900.”
The rate at which the world is slowing down has also accelerated since 2000; this is described as “faster than at any point in the previous century”. NASA’s Surendra Adhikari said: “Humanity has changed the climate system so much in just 100 years that we are seeing the impact this has on the way the planet spins.”
