Do you feel like the day is longer? A recent study reveals how climate change is making days longer

Weather of Arabia - A new study showed that the climate change crisis is leading to an increase in the length of days by slowing down the Earth’s rotation around itself, which affects Internet traffic and financial transactions, in addition to navigation via the Global Positioning System (GPS), according to “The Guardian” newspaper. .

The study, which appeared on Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States, investigated the phenomenon of melting glaciers and polar plates and its effect on the length of the day, which is measured in milliseconds. It is noted that the length of the day on Earth increases steadily over geological time as a result of the gravity of the Moon. Which draws water on the side closest to the Earth.

You may also be interested in:

On International Moon Day.. Does our moon have weather?

Effect of melting ice sheets

The melting of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets due to global warming has led to the redistribution of water stored at high latitudes to the oceans. This change made the Earth more oblate (or larger), slowing the planet's rotation and lengthening the day.

• Results and expectations

According to the study, day length has been increasing at a rate of between 0.3 and 1.0 milliseconds per year from 1900 to 2000. However, this rate has accelerated to 1.33 milliseconds per year since 2000, and the rate is expected to remain high even if emissions are reduced. Highly carbonaceous.

Under high emissions scenarios, the rate of day length increase caused by climate change could continue to rise, reaching twice the current rate by 2100, exceeding the effect of lunar tidal friction.

Scientists consider this phenomenon evidence of how human activities have affected planet Earth, as these effects have become competitive with natural processes that have continued for thousands of years.

Dr. Santiago Belda from the University of Alicante in Spain, who was not part of the research team, said: “This study represents a major advance because it confirms that the alarming loss of ice in Greenland and Antarctica has a direct impact on the length of the day, causing our days to lengthen.” .

"This change in day length has critical implications for how time is measured, as well as its impact on GPS and other technologies that impact our daily lives," he added.

See also:

Just like what happens in an oven... climate change has increased periods of heat waves

Saudi Arabia | Al-Musnad: Why are cloudy nights warmer than clear nights?