Climate change’s impact on length of days could disrupt internet traffic, financial transactions and navigation
The climate crisis has turned into one of the greatest threats humans have ever faced. It has been intensifying natural disasters to unprecedented levels and elevating global temperatures. 2024 is highly likely to surpass 2023 as the hottest year on record.
Climate change is causing the length of each day on Earth to get longer as the mass melting of polar ice reshapes the planet, according to a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA.
The change is on the scale of milliseconds but it is enough to potentially disrupt GPS navigation, financial transactions and internet traffic, as all three of these processes rely on precise timekeeping. The phenomenon is a striking example of human actions transforming the Earth.
Climate change reducing the speed of Earth’s rotation
The length of each day has been steadily increasing over geological time due to the gravitational pull of the Moon on Earth’s land and oceans. But the melting of ice sheets due to anthropogenic global heating is leading to rising sea levels near the equator.
The redistribution is making Earth more oblate – or fatter, reducing the speed of the rotation of the planet and eventually lengthening the day still further. In other cases, climate change is causing the axis of rotation to move and the even shrinking the stratosphere.
Human timekeeping is based on atomic clocks. These are extremely precise. But the exact length of a day – one rotation of the Earth – varies due to lunar tides, climate impacts and other factors. These differences have to be accounted for.
Rate of change could increase to 2.6 ms/cy by 2100
The research used observations and computer reconstructions to assess the impact of melting ice on Earth’s rotation. The rate of change varied between 0.3 and 1.0 millisecond per century (ms/cy) between 1900 and 2000. But since 2000, the change has accelerated to 1.3 ms/cy.
The present-day rate is likely higher than at any time in the past thousand years. It is projected to remain at a level of 1.0 ms/cy for some decades, even if emissions are severely curbed. If emissions are not properly addressed, the rate of change could increase to 2.6 ms/cy by 2100.
Dr Santiago Belda of the University of Alicante in Spain – not part of the research team – called the study a great advance because it confirms that the concerning loss of polar ice has a direct impact on day length, causing our days to lengthen, reported the Guardian.
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