The melting of polar ice slows down the Earth’s rotation speed, with consequences that we will feel in our daily lives, affecting Internet traffic, financial transactions, and the GPS system.
The climate crisis is lengthening the duration of days, as the melting of ice caps reshapes the planet. The phenomenon is a strong demonstration of how human actions are transforming Earth, altering natural processes that have existed for billions of years, say researchers.
Days are becoming longer by a few milliseconds. Although it may seem like an insignificant change, this interval can be enough to cause potential disruptions in Internet traffic, financial transactions, and GPS navigation, some of the activities that depend on precise time measurement, reports The Guardian.
The length of days has been constantly increasing over geological periods due to the gravitational force exerted by the Moon on the oceans and the Earth's crust. However, the melting of ice in Greenland and Antarctica due to global pollution has redistributed water stored at high latitudes into the oceans, leading to the accumulation of a larger volume of water near the Equator.
Thus, the Earth has become more bulged, causing its rotation speed to decrease, and days to become longer.
Time measurement is based on atomic clocks, very precise instruments. However, the exact length of a day varies due to tides caused by the Moon's attraction, climatic impact, and other factors such as the slow rebound of the Earth's crust after the retreat of ice sheets formed in the last glacial era.
These elements must be taken into account, says Benedikt Soja, a professor of spatial geodesy at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, where the study was conducted: "All data centers that use the Internet, communications, and financial transactions rely on precise time measurement. We also need precise time knowledge for navigation, especially for satellites and spacecraft."
The research published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in the USA used observations and computer simulations to analyze the impact of ice melting on the length of the day. The rate of Earth's rotation slowdown varied between 0.3 and 1 millisecond per century between 1900 and 2000. But since 2000, as melting has accelerated, the rate has increased to 1.3 milliseconds per century.
"This current rate is probably higher than at any time in the past few thousand years. It is estimated to remain at a level of about 1 millisecond in the next few decades, even if greenhouse gas emissions are drastically reduced," say researchers.
If emissions are not reduced, the slowdown rate will increase to 2.6 milliseconds by 2100, surpassing tides as the main factor influencing the length of days, emphasize the study's authors.
The impact of humanity on the planet was recently demonstrated by a study showing that the extraction of a huge amount of water from underground reserves has shifted Earth's axis. Another research has shown that carbon emissions generated by human activities are thinning the stratosphere.
T.D.