We all know that human activity is causing our planet to warm up at an unprecedented rate, but you probably didn’t know that it’s also changing the speed and shape of the planet as well? And the implications of that could be huge.
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00:00We all know that human activity is causing our planet to warm up at an unprecedented rate.
00:09But you probably didn't know that it's also changing the speed and shape of the planet as well.
00:14And the implications of that could be huge.
00:16According to the study's author Duncan Agnew,
00:19enough ice has melted to move sea level enough
00:21that we can actually see the rate of Earth's rotation has been affected.
00:24The researchers conclude that while this won't affect the creatures on the planet
00:27quite like rising sea levels or ecosystems in turmoil,
00:30it will change time as we know it.
00:33Timekeeping is all about the sun's position in the sky in regards to the Earth's rotation,
00:37meaning any change to the Earth's rotation will affect our ability to maintain time as we know it.
00:42Experts have been tracking and adding a second to the atomic timescale
00:45around every one and a half years or so since 1972,
00:48to account for natural misalignments in these readings.
00:51However, in the last eight years, they haven't needed to.
00:54That's because the Earth's rotation is slowing down ever so slightly.
00:58The researchers say that by 2026,
01:00we might actually have to start subtracting a second.
01:03And while it doesn't seem like a big deal,
01:04it might affect things like computing.
01:06Timekeeping is very important,
01:08even in areas where it might seem superfluous,
01:10with financial exchanges and even GPS relying heavily on precise timekeeping.
01:15Meaning as the climate change dominoes continue to fall,
01:18humankind could be in for even more surprises.
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