New York Is Looking To Change The Clocks…Again

The planet is changing more than we ever could have imagined, and we may have to modify the concept of time. 

Earth has a very unique orbital spin, that has remained mostly the same as it always has been, but I do say mostly. The spin of the Earth has been ever slightly changing over time, and as a result, it is threatening the concept of time as we know it. 

For the first time in history, we may need to manually change the time of day, and I’m not talking about a “daylight savings time” type of jump. This change would only eliminate a second. 

According to AP News, world timekeepers are considering the elimination of a second from our clocks in a few years, because the planet is rotating slightly quicker than before. By 2029, a study stated, clocks around the world may have to adopt a “negative leap second” to keep the time continuum on track. 

One researcher, Duncan Agnew, led the study for this, and it’s a pretty big deal. The Earth is spinning slightly faster, and eventually we are going to have to catch up with it. 

Agnew hypothesized that the reason the Earth is spinning quicker is due to “ice melting at both of Earth’s poles.” They must have been counteracting the planet’s burst of speed in some capacity. 

After speaking with Dennis McCarthy, the retired director of time for the U.S. Naval Observatory, he confirmed that there will be a negative leap second at some point in the future, and it’s only a matter of when.  

The melting of ice at the North and South poles have been masking the change in orbital spin and slowing the rotation of the earth. If melting ice were no longer a factor, Agnew theorized that we would have to add a negative leap second in 2026 instead of the currently projected 2029. 

As a result, every state would have to be on board with the change in clocks, including New York. 

It doesn’t seem like it will be happening this year, but watch for the time change in the next few years. 

“The times, they are a-Changin’,”  as the wise Bob Dylan once said.