The speed of the Earth's rotation has increased significantly in recent years, and if this trend continues, scientists will have to subtract one second from world time. This was stated by the General Director of VNIIFTRI Sergey Donchenko in an interview with RIA Novosti.

Why is the Earth accelerating?

VNIIFTRI specialists are monitoring changes in the speed of the planet's rotation and note that it is currently accelerating. However, the exact reasons for this phenomenon remain unknown.

One hypothesis is related to global warming. According to Donchenko, the melting of glaciers and the redistribution of water mass can affect the dynamics of the Earth's movement. At the same time, he emphasized that the current changes are not directly related to greenhouse gas emissions and are unlikely to foreshadow global catastrophes.

What will happen to world time?

Earlier, VNIIFTRI employee Vitaly Palchikov suggested that if the Earth's rotation speed continues to increase, then by 2029 it will be necessary to subtract one second from the universal coordinated time (UTC) to compensate for this effect.

According to Donchenko, technically, subtracting or adding a second has not been a difficult task for a long time, since such adjustments have been made before. For example, in the 20th century, seconds were added to universal time several times due to the slowing down of the Earth's rotation.

Will there be consequences?

Although the acceleration of the Earth's rotation can affect the accuracy of time, experts are confident that people's everyday life will not change. However, such adjustments are important for navigation systems, astronomy and the operation of satellites, where even small deviations can matter.

Scientists continue to monitor processes inside the planet, but cannot yet say for sure whether the acceleration will stop or continue in the future.