Climate change is making Earth's days longer
Technology
Earth's days are getting a tiny bit longer, and climate change is the main reason.
New research shows that melting ice sheets, shrinking glaciers, and less groundwater are shifting Earth's mass toward the equator, which slows down our planet's spin.
For the period 2000-2020, the estimated rate was about 1.33 milliseconds per century, a faster pace than has been observed in millions of years (at least since the late Pliocene, ~3.6 million years ago).
Impacts on satellite timing and space navigation
Looking ahead, if emissions stay high, day lengthening could double by 2100.
These changes also mess with super-precise systems like satellite timing and space navigation, reminding us that climate change reaches deeper than we think.