Community Stories

Global Warming Is Influencing Global Timekeeping

Fallout Boy
Posts
2,100
Likes
4,398
Damn,

I'm going to lose control of my life. 😁

The roations rate was aways a variable. Faster/slower is relative. Ask the dinosaurs.

Nowadays this: "That climate change..." is the necessary content of any published science-theme.

We are on the end of an ice-age - so what?
 
Makesbelieve
Posts
440
Likes
3,720
Ah @Fallout Boy, how is it you always manage to ruin the delivery of what could have been a witty comment?

Hast du heute mit Peter Lustig geduscht?
 
Fallout Boy
Posts
2,100
Likes
4,398
Interesting how thin-scinned some people react after a comment with 😁

Nein, mit Holofernes 🍿 Or if you want: with Judith
 
Donn Chambers
Posts
2,439
Likes
3,314
As a scientist studying Earth’s angular momentum variations (among other things), these types of press releases always irk me a little. Yes, this is happening, but we have also known this will happen for decades. The theory behind this goes back to the 60s and 70s. The study is good, and has some new direct calculations, but it is hardly ground-breaking. Yet, because it was published in Nature, it will be the paper referenced in the future, and older studies will be forgotten except by those of us in the field.

For instance, a friend of mine (now at Jet Propulsion Laboratory) wrote on another aspect of this way back in 2007 as part of his PhD dissertation:

https://www.newscientist.com/articl...ng-will-make-earth-spin-faster/#ixzz6lG8b9QyU

General warming of the oceans will also cause the Earth to spin a tiny bit faster. And earthquakes can cause it to slow:

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-details-earthquake-effects-on-the-earth.

Grumpy, old scientist signing off now. 😉
 
Makesbelieve
Posts
440
Likes
3,720
Donn Chambers Donn Chambers
The study is good, and has some new direct calculations, but it is hardly ground-breaking. Grumpy, old scientist signing off now. 😉

You're not being a 'grumpy old scientist' at all, that was a master class response, articulate, informed, and backed up with concrete evidence...

Chapeau!
 
RevZMan123
Posts
2,024
Likes
4,120
Did you know that 30% of NOAAs ground temperature recording stations are OFFLINE and have been for sometime. Now they get marked with and E, for ESTIMATED. Sometimes those temperatures are ESTIMATED from over 100 miles away, one station in texas ESTIMATES over 136 miles away in Oklahoma. I don't know about your state, but in Jersey, the weather isn't the same 20 miles away.

But sure, let's have the rich elites keep buying villas on the beach and $300M dollar yachts and multiple Gulf Streams and then purchase "carbon credits to offset that" (laughable bullshit) and tell us the sky is falling.
 
lejaune
Posts
168
Likes
143
Timekeeping has been decoupled from the rotation of the earth since 1967. If the earth slows down enough, they just add a leap second.
 
Pastorbottle
Posts
2,046
Likes
3,556
I don't think I'll trouble my self with adjusting all my watches and clocks to account for leap seconds, I don't bother adjusting the date much less seconds!
 
Donn Chambers
Posts
2,439
Likes
3,314
lejaune lejaune
Timekeeping has been decoupled from the rotation of the earth since 1967. If the earth slows down enough, they just add a leap second.

Adding leap seconds is done to COUPLE atomic clocks to Earth’s rotation (what we call Universal Time Coordinated), not decouple it. There is an ongoing debate in the scientific community about getting rid of leap seconds and going to just atomic time.
 
Donn Chambers
Posts
2,439
Likes
3,314
Pastorbottle Pastorbottle
I don't think I'll trouble my self with adjusting all my watches and clocks to account for leap seconds, I don't bother adjusting the date much less seconds!

True, but every time you reset your clock to a time standard (like time.gov), you have baked in the leap second. 😉
 
Pastorbottle
Posts
2,046
Likes
3,556
Donn Chambers Donn Chambers
True, but every time you reset your clock to a time standard (like time.gov), you have baked in the leap second. 😉
So that saves me having to be buggerising about with leap seconds.....as I said I won't be troubling myself with it!
I don't bother with seconds when I adjust the time, I'm happy enough to be within a minute there abouts
 
Sign up or log in to reply...

Similar threads

Syrte

Australia fires and global warming- what can you do?

Syrte Open Discussion
Texasjohn
Texasjohn
Posts
35
Views
2K
alam

We Should Be Glad About Global Warming!

alam Watch Photography & General Photography
O
Omegonkey
Posts
5
Views
1K