The Earth is expected to rotate more rapidly in the coming weeks, and some of our days will be unusually shorter. On July 9th, July 22nd and August 5th, the position of the moon is expected to affect the rotation of the Earth, making daily 1.3-1.51 ms less than normal.
A day on Earth is the length of time a planet needs to rotate its axis completely. This is about 86,400 seconds or 24 hours. However, the rotation of the Earth is affected by many things, such as the position of the sun and moon, changes in the Earth’s magnetic field, and balance of mass on Earth.
Since the relatively early days of our planet, the Earth has slowed down, making our days longer. Researchers discovered that around 1 billion to 2 billion years ago, a day on Earth was only 19 hours. This is likely because the moon is approaching our planet, making its gravity stronger than it is now, and its Earth rotates faster on its axis.
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Since then, on average, days have become longer as the moon has moved away from us. However, in recent years, scientists have reported changes in the rotation of the Earth. In 2020, scientists discovered that the Earth was spinning faster than any point in time since the records began in the 1970s. We saw the shortest record date ever on July 5th, 2024.
On July 9th, July 22nd and August 5th, 2025, the Moon is the farthest distance from the Earth’s equator, which changes the effect of gravity pull on the planet’s axis. Think of the earth as the top of the spinning. If you place your finger in the center and rotate it, it won’t rotate immediately, as if to hold it from the top and bottom.
As the moon approaches the poles, the Earth spins faster, making the day shorter than usual.
Related: Was there always a 24-hour day on Earth?
Although these variations are expected, recent research suggests that human activity also contributes to changes in planetary rotation. NASA researchers calculated that ice and groundwater movements related to climate change increased by 1.33 ms per century between 2000 and 2018.
A single event can also affect the spin of the Earth. The 2011 earthquake that hit Japan reduced the length of the day by 1.8 microseconds. Even in the changing seasons, Richard Holme, a geophysicist at the University of Liverpool, influences the spin of the Earth.
“There is more land in the Northern Hemisphere than in the South,” Home said. “In the summer north, trees get leaves. This means that mass moves from the ground to the ground. The rotational speed of the moving body is affected by the distribution of mass. As the ice skater rotates in place, the arms spin firmly on the chest, and the arms slowly rotate with their arms extended. As the Earth’s mass moves away from the core in the summer, the length of the day needs to increase, Hol explained.
Of course, on the day in question, our clock still counts 24 hours. The differences are not noticeable at the individual level.
Timezone changes can be seen when the difference in length of the day exceeds 0.9 seconds or 900 milliseconds. This never happened in a day, but over the years our clocks have gone out of sync with the planet’s position. This is monitored by the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS) and adds a “second jump” to UTC if necessary, then reverts back to the column.
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