Earth Wobbling and Longer Days: The Human Impact
New research utilizing AI has shown that human-induced climate change is causing Earth’s days to lengthen and making our planet wobblier. These changes could have significant implications for our future.
Human activities are altering Earth’s spin, with consequences that could include the need for negative leap seconds, complications in space travel, and changes to Earth’s inner core. Earth’s rotation varies by milliseconds annually due to factors like tectonic activity and lunar gravitational pull.
Climate change is accelerating ice loss from Greenland and Antarctica, leading to sea level rise and the redistribution of mass towards the equator. This results in a slower spin, akin to how figure skaters slow down by extending their arms. A recent study in PNAS, using AI to combine real-world data with physics, predicts these changes will continue.
A related study in Nature Geoscience found that the shift in mass is moving Earth’s axis of rotation, causing the magnetic poles to wobble more each year. Researchers believe this trend has been ongoing for at least three decades and will intensify.
Historically, Earth’s rotation has slowed from 19 hours per day a billion years ago to 24 hours today, largely due to lunar tidal friction. However, climate change is now a major factor, currently lengthening days by approximately 1.3 milliseconds per century, potentially reaching 2.6 milliseconds by the century’s end.
The impact of longer days could necessitate the introduction of negative leap seconds by 2029. This might disrupt timekeeping in technology, though some researchers are skeptical about the severity of these issues. Changes in Earth’s spin must also be considered in space navigation.
Finally, the research suggests that shifts in Earth’s rotational axis could affect the inner core’s rotation, further accelerating the lengthening of days, though this interaction remains uncertain.
Summary
Human Impact: Climate change is altering Earth’s spin and day length.
Consequences: Negative leap seconds, space travel adjustments, and inner core changes.
Historical Context: Earth’s rotation has slowed over billions of years.
Future Predictions: Days may lengthen by 2.6 milliseconds per century due to climate change.
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