A published study Nature, shows that climate change is affecting the length of the Earth day, forcing scientists to rethink the way they measure time. This is because the polar ice caps are melting and as a result the Earth’s rotation is slowing down.

The scientific community uses atomic clocks to accurately determine Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). However, due to fluctuations in the Earth’s rotation rate, additional seconds must be added for atomic and astronomical time to coincide.

University of California geologist Duncan Agnew studies how melting glaciers affect the Earth’s angular velocity. Although this change is not noticeable in daily life, it creates difficulties for systems that rely on accurate time measurement.

Meteorologist Patricia Tavella of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) highlights the potential problems of adding an extra second, as such a move has never been tested before. Delaying the use of the extra second until 2029 will allow better calculation of the Earth’s rotation and assessment of the need for this adjustment.

In addition, researchers’ concerns about the impact of Starlink satellites, which are planned to be destroyed by burning in the atmosphere, on the Earth’s climate are also mentioned. Elon Musk’s SpaceX discovered a structural flaw in 100 satellites that could cause them to fail, so it decided to de-orbit them. Source