- A new study indicates that rising sea levels, primarily caused by melting ice, are subtly slowing Earth's rotation, making days fractionally longer. This rate of change is unprecedented in millions of years.
- As IFLScience reported, this phenomenon is similar to a figure skater extending their arms, which slows their spin, as melting ice redistributes mass from the poles towards the equator.
- The current increase in day length is approximately 1.33 milliseconds per century, a rate that has not been observed in the past 3.6 million years, according to CTV News.
- While this change is imperceptible in daily life, these tiny shifts in Earth's spin can impact technologies such as GPS, satellite tracking, and space navigation, as noted by Ground News.
- Researchers from the University of Vienna and ETH Zurich published these findings in the journal Geophysical Research: Solid Research.
- To determine the historical context of this slowdown, scientists reconstructed ancient day-length fluctuations using fossil remains of single-celled marine organisms called benthic foraminifera.
Rising Sea Levels Slow Earth's Rotation
Melting ice, leading to rising sea levels, is subtly slowing Earth's rotation and making days fractionally longer, much like a figure skater extending their arms. This unprecedented slowdown, occurring at a rate of 1.33 milliseconds per century, hasn't been observed in 3.6 million years and could eventually impact critical technologies like GPS.
Sources
4
Editorial Process: This article was drafted using AI-assisted research and thoroughly reviewed by human editors for accuracy, tone, and clarity. All content undergoes human editorial review to ensure accuracy and neutrality.
Reviewed by: Jacob Feldman
Report an issue with this article
Please sign in to report issues with this article.
Live discussion about this article
Comments
Comments are disabled for this article.
