2021 Will Be A Shorter Year: What Happens When Earth Starts Spinning Faster Than Usual?
If you are one to believe Shakespeare, you would think that time goes faster when one is happy. While absolutely everyone on the planet wanted 2020 to get over, apparently, our planet was also in quite a rush to get through the year quickly.
While, on an average, the Earth takes 86,400 seconds to rotate around its axis, last year, it broke the previous record for spinning the fastest, resulting in the shortest astronomical day, previously been set in 2005. Quoting the Daily Mail, HT reports, “the Daily Mail, July 19, 2020, was the shortest day since scientists began keeping records in the 1960s - 1.4602 milliseconds shorter than the full 24 hours.” It further says, “According to scientists, the days are on average about 0.5 seconds shorter than 24 hours. Though the time difference is noticed only at the atomic level, experts say its impact could be significant.”
What’s more interesting is that the trend continues in 2021. The Denver Channel states, “Since the Earth has sped up, scientists believe each astronomical day in 2021 will be 0.05 milliseconds shorter, and over the course of the year, it adds up to a 19-millisecond difference.” This means that 2021 will be shorter than an average year.
“It’s quite possible that a negative leap second will be needed if the Earth’s rotation rate increases further, but it’s too early to say if this is likely to happen,” physicist Peter Whibberley of the National Physics Laboratory in the UK, told The Telegraph. Whibberley also said that there are also international discussions taking place about the future of leap seconds, and it’s also possible that the need for a negative leap second might push the decision towards ending leap seconds for good.”
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