Increase in Earth's rotation speed The 24-hour time cycle became slightly shorter

London, Ta. Monday, January 11, 2020

There has been a slight increase in the speed of rotation of the earth on its own axis. It has also reduced the length of the day from 24 hours. The earth rotates on its axis and simultaneously revolves around the sun. In this way the globe makes a total of two rotations. Of these, rotation on its axis has decreased by an average of 0.05 milliseconds (1 second equals 1000 milliseconds).

This is the largest and most significant decline in the last 50 years. July 19, 2020 was the shortest day ever, according to figures from The International Earth Rotation and Reference System (IERS), an organization that monitors the Earth's rotation and timing.

That day was 1.4602 milliseconds shorter than the average. With the help of the atomic clock, IERS has been keeping a record of the earth's motion and time since the 1960s. This is the largest decline reported.

The earth makes one rotation on its axis in 24 hours. This includes 86,400 seconds. The increase or decrease of milliseconds in between does not make much difference. But for scientists, that simple statistic is important.

One reason for the increase in speed is the melting of the earth. As the ice layer decreases, so naturally the friction with the earth during rotation also decreases and the speed increases. Increasing or decreasing this speed does not affect the performance of the average person.