The gravitational influence of the moon should be slowing down the rotation of the earth, but several days this summer will be especially short. Scientists do not know what is behind this acceleration.
This July and August, it is expected that the land rotates slightly faster than usual, continuing a curious trend that has surprised scientists. Instead of slowing down, as would be expected due to natural processes such as the gravitational influence of the moon, the planet’s rotation is accelerating – raising questions about What may be causing this change.
Earth’s rotation has never been constant throughout its history. In the distant past, a year could contain between 372 and 490 daysdue to oscillations in the rotation. Over time, gravitational interactions, especially with the moon, have gradually softened Earth’s rotation at a rate of about 1.8 milliseconds per century. However, since 2020, this slowdown has reversed, with- 1.66 milliseconds less than the standard of 86,400 seconds.
According to models from the International Land Reference and Rotation Systems Service (IERS) and the US Naval Observatory, several days of July and August 2025 are expected to be one of the shortest of the year. On July 9, the day is expected to be 1.30 milliseconds shorter, with reductions similar to July 22 and August 5, the.
Although these shorter days can be explained by the moon’s position in relation to the earth’s equator – the further the gravitational friction is – the overall acceleration trend is remains a mystery. Since 1972, 27 second second seconds have been added to compensate for the slowdown of the land, but none has been needed since 2016. Experts have not anticipated this change.
“This absence of the need for second interchange was not anticipated,” said Judah Levine of the US National Institute of Standards and Technology. Leonid Zotov of the State University of Moscow added that atmospheric and oceanic models do not explain this acceleration. “Most scientists believe that Cause is inside the Earth.”
A known factor that can affect the rotation are the great seismos. For example, the magnitude 9.0 earthquake of 2011, off the Japan, moved the Earth axis at 17 cm and shortened the day by 1.8 microseconds. Similar effects were observed after the 2004 earthquake in Indonesia.
Terrestrial rotation is now monitored with unprecedented accuracy, thanks to atomic watches and international observatories. It remains to be seen if these shorter days will establish new records – but persistent mystery continues to challenge the scientific understanding of the internal functioning of our planet.
