In everyday life, there is no "shortage", but these discrepancies can negatively affect the operation of computers, satellites and telecommunications.
Since 1955, there have been special atomic clocks that track the vibrations of atoms to measure the exact time.
Interestingly, the planet used to rotate more slowly, so since 1972, scientists have added 1 second to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) 27 times, by analogy with a leap year. But since then, the planet has started rotating faster, and not a single second has been added since 2016. And now experts do not exclude that the second will have to be removed, on the contrary. This is the first time they will encounter this. For technology around the world, this could become something like the "2,000 problem," when everyone was afraid that computers would not be able to "reset" the dates from 99 to 00, scientists warn.
At the same time, global warming, which has a negative impact on the planet as a whole, counteracts the acceleration of the Earth's rotation: if it were not for the melting of the ice, a second might have to be taken away now.
In the short term, the change in rotation speed is related to the position of the Moon and the tides, seasonal factors also play a role — for example, the planet is traditionally faster in summer. But experts have problems with long-term predictions.: they do not make forecasts for more than a year ahead. 24.kg.
