() — It might not be obvious, but the Earth will experienceone of the briefest days ever recorded today.
The day will be 1.34 milliseconds shorter than the typical 24-hour day, part of apattern in the planet’s actionsthat has occurred in recent years.
It couldlead to an extraordinary choiceto remove a second from the atomic clock in 2029 if the pattern persists, leading to a negative leap second.
The Earth’s rotationhas never been resolved. For a large portion of Earth’s history, a day was truly 19 hours long, yet throughout the billions of years that our planet has existed, the length of days has gradually increased.
The change has been influenced by tidal friction from the moon, leading to the moon’s increasing distance and the Earth’s rotational slowdown.
However, since 2020, our planet has consistently set new records, with the briefest day ever recorded on July 5, 2024, as the Earth spun 1.66 milliseconds quicker than normal.
In 2025, the briefest day recorded was July 10, during which the Earth rotated 1.36 milliseconds quicker than usual.
Experts forecast that August 5 will also be slightly shorter, by approximately 1.25 milliseconds.
Why is the planet accelerating?One study It was suggested that the melting of polar ice and increasing sea levels could affect the rotation, but there is also a possibility that these elements are tempering the acceleration, which seems to be decreasing.
Many scientists think the answerlies hidden beneath our feet, within the planet’s molten core, potentially leading to the mantle and crust of the world spinning more rapidly.
Whether the rise will continue or be a temporary fluctuation that eventually fades is yet to be determined.
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