In 2020, the Earth turned faster than usual
In 2020, our planet has spun faster than usual, which makes the days a little shorter.
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2 min
2020 has definitely been a bizarre year, since after the global pandemics and lockdowns, the Earth itself played tricks on us.
Even faster and faster turns, since on average our planet has turned faster than usual, reducing the length of the days.
But be reassured, nothing serious or worrying.
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A day lasts 24 hours, ie 1,440 minutes or 8,400 seconds.
Well, in theory, because in reality no day lasts exactly as long as the others.
The difference is not very large, of the order of a millisecond, but it is sufficient to be able to measure it.
This instability has physical reasons: the
movements of the core
of the Earth, the oceans, the atmosphere have an influence on the speed of rotation of our planet, it is usual.
The historical trend is moreover to increase the length of the days.
2020, however, has been astonishing since it was exactly the opposite, when the record for the shortest day was from 2005. It was broken 28 times last year.
And it is now July 19, 2020 that occupies this place.
This day, the Earth took 24 hours minus 1.46 milliseconds to turn on itself.
It sounds like nothing, but added together, these little deviations end up having an influence.
The Earth has thus taken the lead compared to our most precise atomic clocks.
Nothing huge, but if the phenomenon is repeated in 2021, then it could be considered to withdraw a second to find the planetary rhythm.
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