Earth is spinning faster

Earth is spinning faster this summer, causing days to be slightly shorter by about 1.3 milliseconds. July 10 marked the shortest day so far, with even shorter days expected on July 22 and August 5. While these tiny changes don’t impact daily life, they can affect technology like satellites and computers, so scientists track them using highly precise atomic clocks. Since 1972, Earth’s rotation has sped up enough to slow the need for “leap seconds” — extra seconds added to keep atomic time and Earth’s rotation in sync, CNN has reported. With Earth continuing to speed up, experts predict a possible “negative leap second” (removing a second) might be needed before leap seconds are phased out by 2035.