On Tuesday, July 22, the Earth will rotate around its axis 1.34 milliseconds faster than usual, making this day the second shortest on record. This is reported by UNN with reference to Space.
Details
On Tuesday, July 22, the Earth will complete a full rotation around its axis slightly faster than usual, making this day one of the shortest on record, the publication states.
As indicated, "the difference will be only 1.34 milliseconds less than the standard 24 hours." That is, of course, an ordinary person will not notice it, but this, as scientists note, is part of a mysterious trend in the Earth's rotational behavior that has been unfolding in recent years. If it continues, it may be necessary to subtract a second from atomic clocks around 2029 - a so-called negative "leap second," which has never been done before.
Addition
The Earth's rotation speed is not constant and changes over time. Once, due to the interaction between solar atmospheric and lunar oceanic tides, a day lasted significantly less than 24 hours - approximately 19.
However, over millions of years, the length of the day gradually increased. The main reason was the "tidal friction" effect caused by the Moon, which is slowly moving away from the Earth. As the Moon moves away, it takes away some of the planet's rotational energy, which slows down its movement and lengthens the days.
However, recent years show an unexpected acceleration of rotation. Since the advent of atomic clocks, the shortest day before 2020 was considered to be a day that was 1.05 milliseconds shorter than 24 hours. But since 2020, the Earth has repeatedly broken this record. The shortest day was July 5, 2024 - it was 1.66 milliseconds shorter than usual.
For 2025, scientists predicted that the shortest days would be July 9 and 22, and August 5. However, according to new data, the shortest day of the year was July 10 - it was 1.36 milliseconds shorter. On July 22, the Earth's rotation is expected to be 1.34 milliseconds faster than usual, making this day the second shortest in 2025. If the forecasts are confirmed, August 5 will be 1.25 milliseconds shorter, leaving July 22 in second place.
Reasons
Studies in 2024 showed that melting polar ice and rising ocean levels can slow down the planet's rotation rate. A much more likely cause of the changes is processes within the Earth - the slowing down of the movement of the liquid core, which forces the mantle and crust to rotate faster.