According to scientists, climate change is affecting the Earth’s rotation. Real Research, an online survey app, revealed that 43.96% of the respondents were vaguely aware, 41.48% were completely aware, and 14.56% were completely unaware of the climate change speeding up Earth’s rotation.

Highlights:

  • 65.56% support maintaining the link between Earth’s rotation and traditional timekeeping.
  • 62.12% agree: This unprecedented situation is significant.
  • 59.82% of the respondents probably think a negative leap second would cause significant disruption in life.

Climate Change Speeding Up Earth’s Rotation

For most of history, time was measured by the rotation of the Earth. However, in 1967, the world’s timekeepers embraced atomic clocks for a more precise era of timekeeping. 65.56% of the respondents think the connection between Earth’s rotation and traditional timekeeping should be maintained.

the-earths-rotation
Figure 1: Whether the earth’s rotation must stay linked to timekeeping

Moreover, 46.7% of the respondents are somewhat concerned about polar ice melt driven by climate change speeding up Earth’s rotation.

Read Also: Over Half (58.6%) Link Climate Change to Heat Waves and Floods

Survey on Climate Change Speeding up Earth’s Rotation

“This is an unprecedented situation and a big deal,” said the study’s lead author, Duncan Agnew, a geophysicist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California. 62.12% of the respondents believe this was truly unprecedented, considering there has been awareness of the harm caused by climate change for the past decades.

Read Also: Human Activity is the Main Cause of Climate Change, Reckoned Over 47%

Earth Is Spinning Faster

Due to climate change speeding up earth’s rotation, around 2029, clocks may have to skip a second to keep up with a “negative leap.”  49.92% of the respondents think this is somewhat likely to happen, and 42% think it is highly likely.

negative-leap
Figure 3: The likeliness that clocks may have to skip a second to keep up with a “negative leap”

Read Also: Over 92% Are Concerned About the Wet-Hot Climate’s Consequences

Furthermore, experts fear that introducing a negative leap second – a minute with only 59 seconds – into standard time could cause havoc on computer systems worldwide. 59.82% of the respondents probably think a negative leap second would cause significant disruption in life.

Methodology

 
Survey TitleSurvey on Climate Change Speeding Up Earth’s Rotation
DurationApril 15 – April 24, 2024
Number of Participants5,000
DemographicsMales and females, aged 21 to 99
Participating Countries Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Benin, Bolivia,… Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, China (Hong Kong) China (Macao), China (Taiwan), Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Greanada, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Lithuania, Malaysia, Maldives, Maluritania, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar [Burma], Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Yemen, Zimbabwe.