Earth to Spin Faster on July 22, Creating 2nd-Shortest Day in History

The Earth will spin a little faster than its usual rotation on July 22 (Tuesday), making it slightly shorter than the normal day. The difference will be just 1.34 milliseconds, which is slightly less than the standard 24 hours timing. The gap will be so small that people won't notice it but scientists are paying close attention to it because of a strange pattern that has started happening recently. According to scientists, if this trend continues, then we might have to remove a second from atomic clocks by the year 2029.

The speed of the Earth’s rotation is not constant and a study in 2023 states that, billions of years ago, Earth’s days lasted only about 19 hours and this happened due to the effects of the Sun and the Moon pulling on the Earth’s atmosphere and oceans.

So why is Earth now spinning faster? Scientists still don't have an accurate answer for why Earth is moving so faster but some studies suggest that the Moon has been slowing down and it is deeply effecting the Earth's rotation for billion of years. Other things like movements in Earth’s core, the oceans and the atmosphere also play a role in these long-term changes. It also changes the planet’s spinning speed over the time.

For 2025, scientists have mentioned that July 9, July 22 and August 5 might be the shortest days in the year. But the new data shows that July 10 was actually the shortest day so far at a gap of 1.36 milliseconds under 24 hours.

According to the source: WION.