The Sun’s Influence on Earth’s Day Length: A Critical Factor in Climate Change Models

Friday, 21 July 2023 – 14:01 WIB

LIVE Techno – The duration of one day on Earth is getting longer because the Moon continues to move away from us at a slow pace.

But there comes a time when this increasing duration of the day is postponed. From about 2 billion years ago to 600 million years, a day lasted a relatively steady 19.5 hours.

Now, scientists have discovered it is the Sun exerting its influence on the planet’s atmosphere to counteract the dragging effect of the Moon’s tidal grip.

Were it not for this effect, the current Earth day would last more than 60 hours – and we must take this into account when developing models of the effects of climate change, say the team led by astrophysicists Hanbo Wu and Norman Murray of the University of Toronto in Canada.

Back when the Moon was first forming about 4.5 billion years ago, the length of Earth’s day – determined by the speed of its rotation on its axis – was much shorter. Estimated only a few hours in a day.

The geological record shows that the days are getting longer and longer. This is because the Moon is gradually shrinking at a rate of about 3.78 centimeters (1.49 inches) per year.

2023-07-21 07:01:00
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