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Earth

Climate Crisis is Making Days Longer, Study Finds (theguardian.com) 62

Posted by msmash from the closer-look dept.
The climate crisis is causing the length of each day to get longer, analysis shows, as the mass melting of polar ice reshapes the planet. From a report: The phenomenon is a striking demonstration of how humanity's actions are transforming the Earth, scientists said, rivalling natural processes that have existed for billions of years. The change in the length of the day is on the scale of milliseconds but this is enough to potentially disrupt internet traffic, financial transactions and GPS navigation, all of which rely on precise timekeeping.

The length of the Earth's day has been steadily increasing over geological time due to the gravitational drag of the moon on the planet's oceans and land. However, the melting of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets due to human-caused global heating has been redistributing water stored at high latitudes into the world's oceans, leading to more water in the seas nearer the equator. This makes the Earth more oblate -- or fatter -- slowing the rotation of the planet and lengthening the day still further.

The planetary impact of humanity was also demonstrated recently by research that showed the redistribution of water had caused the Earth's axis of rotation -- the north and south poles -- to move. Other work has revealed that humanity's carbon emissions are shrinking the stratosphere.
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Climate Crisis is Making Days Longer, Study Finds More

Climate Crisis is Making Days Longer, Study Finds

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  • By a whopping... (Score:3, Informative)

    by x0ra ( 1249540 ) on Tuesday July 16, 2024 @10:12AM (#64629557)
    "... 0.3 and 1.0 millisecond per century (ms/cy) between 1900 and 2000. But since 2000, as melting accelerated, the rate of change also accelerated to 1.3ms/cy."

    • Yes, as ice at the poles melts and the water redistributed into the oceans, the moment of inertial of the Earth changes very slightly and thus the rotation rate also changes slightly. Kudos to the geodynamicists who are able to measure an effect this tiny, but really this should be filed under "amusing but unimportant trivia," not "news for nerds."

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      "... 0.3 and 1.0 millisecond per century (ms/cy) between 1900 and 2000. But since 2000, as melting accelerated, the rate of change also accelerated to 1.3ms/cy."

      I think the interesting part is that humans have actually changed the rotation rate of a planet. Now go on a roadtrip in your 'I have a teeny wiener' truck and coal-roll some Teslas.

    • ...so, can we FINALLY get rid of Daylight Savings Time and just switch to std. time and quit changing back and forth every year???

      ;)

  • I believe the latest addition of a leap second has been scrapped entirely with the possibility of one being removed in the future if things get worse. Ie: Earth's rotation is now speeding up due to warming.

    • Fallacy, other processes effect length of day, like glacial rebound and mantle convection. To claim mankind knows the exact percentages is nonsense, we don't have the means.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by XXongo ( 3986865 )

        Fallacy, other processes effect length of day, like glacial rebound and mantle convection. To claim mankind knows the exact percentages is nonsense, we don't have the means.

        This is not instead of other effects that change the mass distribution of the Earth. It is in addition to the other effects.

        But, (1) yes, we can know the exact percentage, and (2) that exact percentage is very very very small.

        • No, the "percentages" of affects on Earth's rotation are estimated from models. We don't have the means to measure for example exact moments of Inertia, you will find those are admitted to be *estimates* of a constantly and dynamically changing non-uniform entity with liquid and plastic interiors.

  • 1.3ms/century isn't really significant (Score:5, Informative)

    by swillden ( 191260 ) <shawn-ds@willden.org> on Tuesday July 16, 2024 @10:26AM (#64629591) Journal

    In case anyone is looking to figure out what implications this has for the human race, the answer is "none". The amount of slowing in question is measurable, but only because we have extremely sophisticated measuring tools, and the slowing won't impact us in any way. It's not even enough to noticeably increase the rate at which we have to add leap seconds.

    The significance of this observation is all symbolic, though IMO it is a very significant symbolic effect. We know we can change the shape of the land, we know we can advantage or destroy species, most of us now know that we can alter the climate... but who'd have predicted that we were capable of measurably changing the Earth's rotation? As it turns out, we've done it without even realizing we did. It's not hubris to think we can alter the planet, it's fact. We've demonstrably done it in myriad ways. Which implies that we should think about how we do it, and make sure that the alterations we're making are ones we want to make (note that this is not the same as saying we shouldn't alter it).

    • It's fascinating, but doesn't really rise onto my list of top concerns for climate change.

      • It's fascinating, but doesn't really rise onto my list of top concerns for climate change.

        It's a powerful symbol, not a practical concern.

    • Symbolic doesn't cut it though, like the doomsday clock, even though one is more measurable than the other. Humanity acts like the boiling frog.

      • Symbolic doesn't cut it though, like the doomsday clock, even though one is more measurable than the other. Humanity acts like the boiling frog.

        Doesn't cut it for what? What is it that you're expecting this research to do? If you're looking for it to convince all the climate deniers, it's obviously not going to, and it wouldn't even if it were several orders of magnitude larger. They'd just claim it's a lie, or invent some fantastical alternative explanation, or ten, none of which would hold up to any scrutiny, but they wouldn't care about that.

        • Doesn't cut it for people to take it as a threat. Unless it's imminent and can be experienced right now, well, "not my problem" a majority would say.

    • Yes, it is. That is precisely the point of this report. It is adjusting the spin of the planet by a measurable and noticeable effect. See also: GPS.

      Just saying saying, "no, it is not" as a reply id not convincing, except to people who have no critical thinking skills.

      If people who know what is going on are stating that bad things are happening, take them seriously. Not this idiot.

      • Yes, it is. That is precisely the point of this report. It is adjusting the spin of the planet by a measurable and noticeable effect. See also: GPS.

        Not even GPS is impacted by this in any practical way. I don't consider a slight increase in the value of the otherwise-necessary adjustment to constitute a "practical" impact, and the Earth is slowing and the updates necessary regardless.

        If people who know what is going on are stating that bad things are happening, take them seriously. Not this idiot.

        I don't think you actually read my post. Also, you have invoked my "no jerks" clause with the ad hominem.

  • Judging by the low scores on the half dozen posts thus far, the modders are pissed off about the cognitive dissonance they are feeling.

  • Issues (Score:2, Informative)

    by JBMcB ( 73720 )

    This won't cause issues with anything ground-based. As long as everyone is still using the same standard which, in the US, is pretty much the Navy master clock, everything will run as normal. If there are fractions of a millisecond to be added or subtracted, they'll be tacked on to the normal leap second corrections that everyone accounts for already.

    The only people this directly effects are those doing orbital things and need to be using sidereal time, but that's sloppy enough already that a few millisecon

  • It's not just America (Score:4, Funny)

    by Nkwe ( 604125 ) on Tuesday July 16, 2024 @10:39AM (#64629627)
    The whole world is getting fatter.
  • So we don't notice that thousands of people are dying of heat / thirst from general climate change. You're so brilliant with this tactic.

  • ...the flat-earthers are slowing growing right: the Earth is deflating, its sides spreading out (like us at middle age). They are not morons, but Prophets!

  • Is also causing dogs and cats to live together.

  • The actual study is here: https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/1... [pnas.org] and it is paywalled. The abstract says that their claims are based on observations and reconstructions of "mass variations at the Earth's surface since 1900". The details of those observations and reconstructions are behind the paywall.

    It is senseless to keep on using non-scientific sources such as The Guardian as the basis for slashdot climate posts, to say nothing of the senselessness of using paywalled sources even from scientific journals.

    We ca

  • GPS works on its own timescale which has little to do with GMT. So at least from a timing perspective that doesn't matter at all.

    Also note that all of those systems mentioned don't work on solar time, but on legal time, which is a different concept. Nobody gets the time directly from astronomical observation, we all get it from legal entities, usually governmental organizations, that agree on a legal time.

  • is taking so long to get to midnight! It's taking FOREVER to get just one second closer!

  • Now we're going to have to start adding leap *milliseconds.*

  • it is not ok to say as obvious truth that which is a lie it is not a crisis it is not man made

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