Normally, it takes Earth exactly 24 hours to spin once on its axis, but on Tuesday, July 26, scientists set a new world record that shows the planet is spinning faster than ever before.
Until a few years ago, experts believed that the Earth’s rotation was slowing down, but recent evidence now shows that it is in fact speeding up.
Atomic clocks have noted the time change with the shortest day on record so far on Tuesday.
In 2020, scientists recorded the 28 shortest days since 1960.
This year, Earth completed its fastest spin on June 29, but it was quickly surpassed last month, spinning 1.50 milliseconds faster.
The previous record for the shortest rotation was on July 19, 2020, when the Earth’s rotation took 1.4602 milliseconds less than 24 hours.
Although scientists have yet to find the exact cause of why it is speeding up, there are a number of theories.
Some experts have suggested that it could be due to the melting of glaciers or the accumulation of large amounts of water in reservoirs in the northern hemisphere.
Others suggest it could be due to seismic activity or the movements of the planet’s molten core.
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If the Earth spins faster, it will arrive at the same place a little earlier, wreaking havoc on the systems. A change of half a millisecond in the Earth’s rotation is equivalent to a change of about 10 inches at the equator.
If the Earth continues to spin faster, GPS technology could quickly become inaccurate.
To compensate for the change, the world’s timekeepers may need to add a negative split second or “drop second”.
This would help balance the clocks and maintain GPS technology and other software that rely on precision timing.