Jakarta –
Results of the atomic clock calculation, combined with measurements astronomy appropriate, revealing that the length of the day suddenly lengthened. So far, scientists don’t know why.
This has had a major impact not only on our timekeeping, but also on things like GPS and other technologies that govern our modern lives.
In recent decades, the Earth’s rotation around its axis (which determines the length of the day) has accelerated. This trend has actually shortened the days on Earth. In June 2022, scientists set a record for the shortest day in the last half century or so.
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But despite this record, since 2020 that constant acceleration has strangely morphed into a slowdown of days of longer and longer duration. The reason so far remains a mystery.
Quoted by Gadgets360, the time it takes for the Earth to complete one rotation is actually not exactly 24 hours, but it varies greatly. These changes occur over millions of years, and earthquakes and storms can play a role as well.
Planets are always changing
Over the course of millions of years, Earth’s rotation has slowed down due to the frictional effects associated with the tides pushed by the Moon. This process adds about 2.3 milliseconds of length per day every century. Several billion years ago, a day on Earth only lasted about 19 hours.
But over the past 20,000 years, other processes have worked in the opposite direction and accelerated the Earth’s rotation. When the last ice age ended, the melting of the polar ice caps reduced the surface pressure and the Earth’s mantle began to move constantly towards the poles.
The speed of rotation of our planet increases as this mantle mass approaches the Earth’s axis and this process decreases every day by about 0.6 milliseconds every century.
For decades and more, the relationship between the interior and the surface of the Earth also comes into play. Large earthquakes can change the length of the day, albeit usually by a small amount.
For example, the 2011 Great Tōhoku Earthquake in Japan with a magnitude of 8.9 is believed to have accelerated the Earth’s rotation by 1.8 microseconds.
In addition to these large-scale changes, in shorter periods, weather and climate also have a major impact on the Earth’s rotation, causing variations in both directions.
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