The climate crisis is causing every day to get a little longer, a new study shows. The reason is the mass melting of the polar ice that is reshaping our planet. The phenomenon is a striking demonstration of how humanity’s actions are changing the Earth – competing with natural processes that have existed for billions of years. The change in the length of the day is in milliseconds, and is not noticeable to us humans. Still, it’s enough to potentially disrupt modern electronics, which rely on precise timekeeping. – What is so fascinating about the modern times we live in is that everything is so fine-tuned. So even milliseconds present challenges, even if we humans don’t notice on our bodies that the days are getting longer, says Borgar Aamaas, climate researcher at Cicero. Fine-tuned technology, such as the GPS in a Tesla, can be affected by the earth spinning more slowly. Photo: JUSTIN SULLIVAN / AFP Earth rotates more slowly The length of a day on Earth has gradually increased over time due to the Moon’s gravitational pull on the planet’s oceans and land. In modern times, the melting of the Greenland and Antarctic glaciers, which is due to man-made global warming, has led to water that was previously stored at high latitudes, now being redistributed to the world’s oceans. This has resulted in an increased amount of water closer to the equator. This thickens the globe, slowing the rotation of the planet and further lengthening the day. Climate researcher Borger Aamaas says the findings in the new study are as expected. Photo: Cicero Aamaas explains the principle as a spinning carousel: – The poles are closer to the center of the earth than the equator, so the melting of the ice causes the water to be moved outwards in the carousel and thus slows down the rotation. And the slower the carousel (the earth) spins, the longer the rotations (the days). It becomes more difficult to measure time Atomic clocks can measure time with an uncertainty of nanoseconds. They form the basis of the world’s global time scale UTC (Coordinated Universal Time), and have a major impact on our daily lives and scientific progress. Although the atomic clocks are very stable, the Earth’s rotation still affects the clocks. This can make it more difficult to know exactly what time it is. Atomic clocks are regularly adjusted by the leap second to match the actual rotation. Since UTC was introduced in 1972, 27 leap seconds have been added to adjust the measurement of time to the actual rotation of the Earth. Does not affect navigation and banking transactions However, GPS systems and banking transactions use a different system to measure time, namely GPS time. Systems that depend on synchronous time, such as banking transactions, power supply units and others, often use the GPS system as a source of time. – The GPS system that gives the position has its own time, which is actually completely independent of Earth’s time, says Per Erik Opseth in the Mapping Authority. GPS is the very cornerstone of modern flight navigation and safety. It helps to provide accurate position, maintain correct heading and altitude and provides precise time. Photo: Benoit Tessier / Reuters When the Earth gradually rotates more slowly, it affects the difference between the Earth’s real time and what is the time of the GPS system. The difference between these today is 18 seconds. Don’t worry Man-made climate change alters the rotation further, and this can make timekeeping more unpredictable in the long term. Professor of physics, Wojchiech Jacek Miloch, on the other hand, is not worried, as the changes are so small. – Very slow changes in time should not have a major impact on GPS and other systems, he says. According to Miloch, it takes approximately 76,000 years to change the Earth’s rotation by one second at today’s rate of change related to climate change. – In a long-term perspective, we have to introduce a small correction to UTC to hit 12 o’clock with respect to the sun, he says. Published 29/07/2024, at 09.15
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The climate crisis is making the days longer, according to study – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
