A Faster Spinning Earth May Cause Timekeepers To Subtract a Second From World Clocks
“We are headed toward a negative leap second,” said Dennis McCarthy, retired director of time for the U.S. Naval Observatory who wasn’t part of the study. “It’s a matter of when.” It’s a complicated situation that involves, physics, global power politics, climate change, technology and two types of time. […] McCarthy said the trend toward needing a negative leap second is clear, but he thinks it’s more to do with the Earth becoming more round from geologic shifts from the end of the last ice age.
Three other outside scientists said Agnew’s study makes sense, calling his evidence compelling. But Levine doesn’t think a negative leap second will really be needed. He said the overall slowing trend from tides has been around for centuries and continues, but the shorter trends in Earth’s core come and go. “This is not a process where the past is a good prediction of the future,” Levine said. “Anyone who makes a long-term prediction on the future is on very, very shaky ground.”
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