Melting polar ice is messing with global timekeeping
Ice loss caused by climate change is slowing the Earth's rotation


What happened
So much polar ice is melting and flowing toward the equator that it's influencing how fast the Earth spins, complicating global timekeeping, said a paper published in Nature on Wednesday.
Who said what
Human-caused "global warming is managing to actually measurably affect the rotation of the entire Earth," and that's "kind of amazing," said study author Duncan Agnew, a geophysicist at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
The commentary
The Earth's rotation slowed for a long period, prompting authorities measuring time by the Earth's rotation — astronomical time — to add occasional "leap second[s]" to sync up with coordinated universal time (UTC), the atomic-clock-based standard since the 1960s, CNN said. But now the planet is spinning faster, necessitating subtracting a second. Agnew said this unprecedented "negative leap second" can wait until 2029, not 2026, due to the slowing effect of rising ocean levels.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What next?
The rotational changes won't make the Earth "jerk to a halt, nor speed up so rapidly that everyone gets flung into space," The Washington Post said. But the "negative leap second" will be "a 'yikes' moment" for computer-based technology, University of Colorado Boulder glaciologist Ted Scambos said to CNN.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
October 5 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include half-truth hucksters, Capitol lockdown, and more
-
Jaguar Land Rover’s cyber bailout
Talking Point Should the government do more to protect business from the ‘cyber shockwave’?
-
Russia: already at war with Europe?
Talking Point As Kremlin begins ‘cranking up attacks’ on Ukraine’s European allies, questions about future action remain unanswered
-
The moon is rusting
Under the radar The Earth is likely to blame
-
Africa could become the next frontier for space programs
The Explainer China and the US are both working on space applications for Africa
-
NASA reveals ‘clearest sign of life’ on Mars yet
Speed Read The evidence came in the form of a rock sample collected on the planet
-
Canyons under the Antarctic have deep impacts
Under the radar Submarine canyons could be affecting the climate more than previously thought
-
SpaceX breaks Starship losing streak in 10th test
speed read The Starship rocket's test flight was largely successful, deploying eight dummy satellites during its hour in space
-
NASA is moving away from tracking climate change
The Explainer Climate missions could be going dark
-
Atoms into gold: alchemy's modern resurgence
Under the radar The practice of alchemy has been attempted for thousands of years
-
Hurricanes are not exclusive to Earth. They can happen in space.
Under the radar These storms may cause navigational problems