By STACY LIBERATORE, U.S. SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR
Scientists have warned that Earth’s rotation is set to speed up on Tuesday, resulting in one of the shortest days in recorded history.
The change, driven by the moon’s gravitational pull, will cause the planet to spin slightly faster at its poles, shaving 1.25 milliseconds off the usual 24-hour day.
While the shift is too small for humans to notice, experts said the long-term implications could be catastrophic.
As the planet spins faster, centrifugal force would begin pushing ocean water away from the poles and toward the equator.
Even a modest increase of just one mile per hour could raise sea levels by several inches in equatorial regions, enough to swamp low-lying coastal cities already on the brink.
In more extreme scenarios, where Earth spins 100 miles per hour faster, vast areas around the equator could disappear under rising water as polar seas surge southward.
For those who survive the flooding, scientists warn that daily life would grow increasingly hostile as the planet’s balance shifts, making this seemingly minor change far more ominous than it appears.
A faster spin would not just shorten the day, it could throw human biology into chaos.
Earth normally takes 24 hours, or exactly 86,400 seconds, to complete one full rotation, which is called a solar day
If Earth’s rotation continues to accelerate, the solar day could shrink to just 22 hours, disrupting circadian rhythms and effectively shifting everyone’s internal clock two hours earlier each day without time to adjust.
Such a disruption wouldn’t be minor. Studies have shown that even small changes, like daylight saving time, are linked to spikes in heart attacks, strokes, and traffic accidents. A permanent shift would be even more dangerous.
NASA astronomer Dr Sten Odenwald also warned that weather patterns would become more extreme. As the planet spins faster, the Coriolis effect, which causes storms to rotate, intensifies.
‘Hurricanes will spin faster and carry more energy,’ Dr Odenwald explained.
These minute deviations in Earth’s rotation are tracked using atomic clocks, which measure time by counting the oscillations of atoms in a vacuum chamber.
This forms the basis of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), the global timekeeping standard.
In recent years, Earth has seen a growing number of ‘short days.’ On July 19, 2020, the day was 1.47 milliseconds shorter than average. June 30, 2022, came in 1.59 milliseconds short.
But the current record was set just last year, on July 5, 2024, when Earth completed a full rotation 1.66 milliseconds faster than usual, the shortest day recorded since atomic clocks were introduced in 1949.
Graham Jones, an astrophysicist at the University of London, discovered the change earlier this year, noting that Earth’s rotation could speed up noticeably on July 9, July 22 and August 5.
Earth’s rotation has been speeding up, leading to some of the shortest days in history this month (Stock Image)
Earth normally takes 24 hours, or exactly 86,400 seconds, to complete one full rotation, which is called a solar day.
Earth’s rotation is not always perfect, as it can shift by a tiny amount over time, a few milliseconds.
That is likely due to the Earth’s spin being influenced by natural forces, like earthquakes and ocean currents.
Melting glaciers, movement in Earth’s molten core, and large weather patterns like El Niño can also slightly speed up or slow down the planet’s rotation.
These changes are measured using atomic clocks, which track time more accurately than regular watches. The recent spin-up has surprised researchers.
The fastest day recorded so far was on July 5, 2024, when Earth spun 1.66 milliseconds faster than the standard 24 hours.
Although Jones does not know the exact reason for the acceleration, he is studying what’s happening inside the Earth.
That includes shifting molten layers in the core, ocean currents, and high-altitude winds as they affect the Earth’s spin.