is changing – and human-caused climate change plays a significant role. Ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica are rapidly melting, altering the planet’s shape and influencing its natural spin. Scientists say this may force us to implement a “negative leap second” for the first time in history.
However, melting ice sheets exert a counter-effect. As ice turns to water and flows towards the equator, Earth’s equatorial bulge increases and becomes slightly more spherical. Think of a figure skater; when they extend their arms, their spin slows down. This mass redistribution is subtly slowing down Earth’s rotation.concludes that the ice melt is delaying the necessity for a potential negative leap second by several years.
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Climate change and polar ice melting could be impacting the length of Earth's dayRobert Lea is a science journalist in the U.K. whose articles have been published in Physics World, New Scientist, Astronomy Magazine, All About Space, Newsweek and ZME Science. He also writes about science communication for Elsevier and the European Journal of Physics. Rob holds a bachelor of science degree in physics and astronomy from the U.K.
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