Melting ice caused by global warming is changing Earth’s rotation rate faster than expected, according to a study published March 27. A phenomenon imperceptible to humans, but the consequences of which are far from anecdotal for our ultra-connected societies.
Melting ice from global warming is changing the Earth’s rotation rate faster than expected, according to a study published in the journal Nature on March 27. Up to influencing the calculation of universal time, which conditions the correct functioning of computer networks, the Internet and even navigation systems.
Inconsistent rotation speed
The time on our watches depends on the movements of the heavens and, more precisely, the speed of the Earth’s rotation. However, our planet rotates at a rate that is not constant. This shift requires the addition of a leap second to Universal Time (UTC time) – a mechanism used since 1972 to keep official time in line with the planet’s natural day.
An add-on that intervenes irregularly as soon as the gap between the two standards becomes too significant. Since the introduction of this measure, 27 seconds have been added, all positive. The last addition was in 2016.
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The next one was planned for 2026. However, the effect of melting polar ice is imperceptibly extending the length of our days, which may soon be longer than 24 hours, Trustmyscience explains. The consequence: adding that extra time could be delayed until 2029. “It’s melted enough ice to move the sea level enough that we’re actually able to see that the Earth’s rotation rate has been affected,” notes Duncan Agnew, a geophysicist at the California University of San Diego and author of the study.
The missing second that worries
The acceleration of the Earth’s rotation means that astronomical time will gradually exceed atomic time. Which could force us to introduce a second… negative within a few years.’
“We don’t know how to deal with the missing second. That’s why metrologists worry about time,” he explains in the magazine Nature, Felicitas Arias, former Director of the Time Department of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Sèvres (Hauts-de-Seine).
“Confusion in Computer Systems”
Leap seconds cause so much chaos in computing that scientists have voted to eliminate them in 2035. The slowdown could cause “unprecedented” problems in an increasingly connected world, researchers say.
The reason: Internet networks, as well as satellite navigation systems, operate on the basis of this universal time. Adding a negative second means that the clock will skip a second, which could have a devastating impact on software that relies on timers or schedulers.