The International Earth Reference and Rotation Systems Service (IERS) recorded in 2020 that the Earth had had a shorter average duration since the 1930s. this phenomenon could be faster in 2021.
According to IERS data, in 2020 our planet rotated around its axis faster than usual. This new year is expected to follow the same path, that is, the days will last less than before.
2021 will have the shortest days in almost 100 years / Getty Images (Reference) “2021 is expected to be the shortest in decades. The last time the average daily duration in a full year was less than 86,400 seconds was in 1937.”, Says Graham Jones, astrophysicist of ‘Time and Date’.
Time and Date expert calculations predict that 2021 will be exactly about 35.40 milliseconds shorter than the previous ones. In 2020 the planet rotated 1.28 milliseconds faster than recorded.
2021 will have the shortest days in almost 100 years / Getty Images (Reference) How long will the days last?
“On average, the days will last 0.10 milliseconds less than the 86,400 seconds they should last and the year in total will be exactly about 35.40 milliseconds shorter.”
According to BBC World, “a terrestrial day or a period of rotation must in theory take 86,400 seconds, which is the seconds in 1,440 minutes or 24 hours.”
“We believe this has been going on for millions of years. But with very small variations. After an interruption in 2004, with a small slowdown, the acceleration has been restored in 2016,” adds Graham Jones.
2021 will have the shortest days in almost 100 years / Getty Images (Reference) Will there be a slowdown?
This acceleration will continue in 2021, although it does not know exactly how long it will last. At some point, things will slow down again, ”Jones adds.
“If the shorter days continue, at some point we might need a negative second interleaver, which is to remove a second from our clocks to fit the fastest rotation on Earth,” warns the Time and Date expert .