\nIs Africa cracking open? How Earth\u2019s \u2018heartbeat\u2019 is tearing the continent apart, forming a new ocean<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n
However, it was not always like this. Some studies show that in the past, Earth took between 490 and 372 days to complete one trip around the Sun.<\/p>\n
STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD<\/p>\n
So, which days in July and August might be the shortest? And what is the reason behind this change?<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s take a look:<\/p>\n
Why and when Earth is predicted to spin faster<\/strong><\/p>\n A scientist has warned that Earth\u2019s rotation is speeding up unexpectedly, with the shortest day in history possibly just weeks away.<\/p>\n Graham Jones, an astrophysicist from the University of London, said the Earth\u2019s spin may increase slightly on three specific days, July 9, July 22, and August 5, he told Daily Mail.<\/p>\n The difference will be very small, measured only in milliseconds.<\/p>\n On these days, the length of a day might drop by 1.30, 1.38, or 1.51 milliseconds, one after the other.<\/p>\n Experts say that even a slight change can impact satellite systems, GPS accuracy, and how we keep track of time.<\/p>\n Leonid Zotov, a researcher at Moscow State University, said: \u201cNobody expected this, the cause of this acceleration is not explained.\u201d<\/p>\n Since 2020, scientists have observed the Earth turning slightly quicker than usual, but they are still unsure why this is happening.<\/p>\n Earlier, the planet had been slowing down gradually, mainly due to the moon\u2019s pull, which over time helped shape our current 24-hour days.<\/p>\n Typically, the Earth takes 24 hours, or exactly 86,400 seconds, to complete one full spin, known as a solar day.<\/p>\n Judah Levine, a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, told Discover Magazine in 2021, \u201cThis lack of the need for leap seconds was not predicted.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe assumption was, in fact, that Earth would continue to slow down and leap seconds would continue to be needed. And so this effect, this result, is very surprising.\u201d<\/p>\n STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD<\/p>\n If the Earth keeps rotating faster, timekeepers might need to make changes to official time, which could include removing a leap second for the first time ever in 2029.<\/p>\n Why is Earth spinning faster?<\/strong><\/p>\n The Earth\u2019s rotation is not perfectly steady. It can shift by a few milliseconds now and then.<\/p>\n This happens because natural forces, such as earthquakes and ocean movements, can change the planet\u2019s spin slightly.<\/p>\n Other reasons include melting glaciers, changes in Earth\u2019s molten core, and weather patterns like El Nino, which can either slow down or speed up rotation by small amounts.<\/p>\n Scientists use atomic clocks to track these tiny changes with high precision. The recent increase in spin has caught many of them off guard.<\/p>\nThe Earth is likely to spin slightly faster in July and August, which could lead to shorter days. Pixabay\/Representational Image<\/b><\/p>\n