Study: melting glaciers and ice sheets are slowing Earth's rotation
Turns out, climate change isn't just warming the planet: it's also making Earth spin a little slower.
A new study says melting glaciers and ice sheets are shifting mass toward the equator, which is causing our days to get ever so slightly longer.
This slowdown is happening faster than at any time in the last 3.6 million years.
One extra hour requires 200 million years
Right now, days are stretching by about 1.33 milliseconds per century. If greenhouse gas emissions keep rising, that could double to 2.62 milliseconds per century by 2080.
Still, don't expect an extra hour anytime soon. Scientists estimate it would take about 200 million years for us to gain just one more hour in a day!
The takeaway: human activity is quietly changing some of Earth's most basic systems, even if we can't feel it yet.