If by 2020 the Earth were rotating at an extraordinary speed around its axis and increasing its speed, this could lead to a second decline from UTC.

Stated in it Report In a January 13 publication in the French daily Le Point, author Chloe Durand Parent said that last year the world witnessed the lowest 28 days since 1960, when the earth averaged 86 milliseconds less than one minute and a half milliseconds. Alpha and 400 seconds to complete a cycle on its axis.

Previous record As of July 5, 2005, the Earth’s rotation averaged less than one millisecond. “In fact, since 2016 we have seen an acceleration in the Earth’s rotation, and we do not really know how to explain it,” says Christian Bezoir, an astronomer in the Department of Space and Time Reference Systems at the Paris Observatory.

Unknown causes

The specialist explained: “Since the invention of quartz watches in the thirties and forties of the twentieth century, we know that the length of the day has witnessed periodic fluctuations in fractions of a second (ie 0.001 seconds), with a minimum of July and August, and a maximum of winter. But for decades the differences do not exceed 3-4 milliseconds.

Changes in the Earth’s speed – particularly observed over the past six years – are explained by factors known to scientists, mainly atmospheric fluctuations and tidal levels. But the pace recorded in 6-10 years, that is the current situation, does not seem to be associated with similar results.

Bezover argues that these differences are due to the interaction between the Earth’s liquid core and its mantle. Unfortunately, scientists can only indirectly observe these internal phenomena by observing the Earth’s magnetic field.

Last year witnessed the lowest 28-day record since 1960 (foreign media)

“If this acceleration continues at a rate of 0.3 milliseconds per year, in the next four or five years, it may have to decrease one minute from UTC,” he said, adding that depending on the atomic clocks under an international agreement concluded in the 1970s, there would be no difference compared to the Earth’s rotation time. The astronomer confirms that this is the first time we need to reduce the moment by one second, as we always have to add seconds to find a solution to slow the Earth’s rotation.

Suggestions override positives

If the international agreement concluded in the 1970s is not simply rescinded, many countries will work to end this atomic time of correction. The positive points that reached this level in the 1970s are no longer in real use, especially since many operations, such as trading in the stock markets, now require much less accurate accuracy than a second.

The author explains that the introduction or addition of the second UTC raises a number of issues. According to Bezover, when Coordinated Universal Time was established, it was primarily used for positioning, especially in marine navigation. If we correct the atomic time relative to the rotation of the earth, we preserve the accuracy that is consistent with the technologies of that period.

However, today the American GPS and the European Galileo system operate at an accuracy of 10 microseconds, which makes the UTC inaccurate because these new technologies depend directly on the rotation time of the earth.

If acceleration continues at the same rate in the coming years, we may have to cut back from UTC (Foreign Press).

Although the Earth’s rotation time is more variable, the geolocation is more accurate. “If the inventors of the UTC could have foreseen the development of technology and the acceleration of the Earth’s rotation, they would have retreated,” because it is always difficult to change international law.

“In principle, this upward trend should continue into 2021, especially since the minimum decadal change is 13 years, but it will last longer,” Bezover said, adding that it will continue to monitor the speed of Earth’s rotation.