Climate change has been found to have a tangible impact on the Earth’s rotation, potentially affecting the way time is measured and kept. The melting of polar ice, particularly from Greenland and Antarctica, is causing an increase in the amount of water in the world’s oceans, leading to a redistribution of mass. As a result, there has been a slight slowdown in the Earth’s rotation.
This phenomenon has led scientists to contemplate whether global timekeepers may need to subtract a second from our clocks in the future. Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which regulates clocks and time globally, is calculated based on the Earth’s rotation. However, since its rate is not constant, it can affect the length of our days and nights. To maintain accuracy, approximately 27 leap seconds have been added since the 1970s.
A recent study by Duncan Agnew suggests that without the accelerating melt of polar ice, a “negative leap second” – subtracting a second from world clocks – would have been necessary in 2026. This would signify an unprecedented change and demonstrate the profound effects of climate change on our planet. Agnew expressed surprise at how humans have influenced the Earth’s rotation so measurably through their actions.
