Climate change is causing sea levels to rise which, in turn, is making the Earth “fatter” at the equator. This is slowing the planet's rotation and subtly lengthening our days. As the polar ice caps have melted, water has been redistributed from the poles to the equator, significantly increasing the Earth's flattening, or “thickness,” since 1900. This change, although seems minor, it has implications for precise timekeeping and space navigation.
The rate of this change is higher than at any time in the 20th century. If greenhouse gas emissions continue at their current rate, the length of the day will continue to increase, potentially adding an additional 2.62 milliseconds per century by the end of the 21st century. This would make climate change a more significant contributor to long-term variations in day length than even lunar tides.
These findings highlight the unprecedented impact of climate change on our planet. The study builds on previous research that examined the effect of climate change on global time. This earlier study found that faster melting of polar ice would slow Earth's rotation faster, which could influence the way we measure time.
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), the international standard for time measurement, is based on approximately 450 atomic clocks in laboratories around the world. Periodically, a leap second is added to maintain the link between atomic time and the Earth's rotation.
The redistribution of water at the equator affects the speed of the Earth's rotation. This can be compared to a skater spinning on ice. If the skater extends his arms, his spin slows down, but if he brings his arms in, it speeds up. Likewise, as more water moves toward the equator, the Earth's rotation slows.
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