If you’ve noticed the work days are dragging on a little longer than usual, it may not be your imagination.That’s because a new NASA study funded in part by the Canadian government says the melting ice caps are affecting the planet’s rotation, making each successive day slightly longer.According to the study’s findings, the average length of day has increased by 1.33 milliseconds since 2000. That compares to an average of about 0.03 milliseconds since 1900.At the current rate — based on future climate projections — that figure could double to 2.6 milliseconds by 2100, overtaking lunar tidal friction “as the single-most important contribution to the long term length of day variations.”."Over the course of Earth’s geological evolution, tidal friction by the moon has been the dominant cause of the… increase in the length of day," the study concludes."If, however, greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise, the increase in atmospheric and oceanic warming and associated ice melting will lead to a much higher rate… becoming the most important contribution to the long-term length-of-day variations." That’s because the Earth isn’t perfectly round. Rather, it’s an oblate spheroid that bulges toward the middle. As glaciers and ice caps melt, the water is pushed out from the centre like a massive centrifuge..That in turn, causes the planet to decelerate it said. It’s similar to a twirling figure skater who extends their arms and legs to slow down the rate of spin.In practical terms, a few extra milliseconds per day isn't the most pressing impact on day-to-day life. However, computer systems, which rely on the 86,400-second day, may require an adjustment as the intricacies of time start to pass out of sync.Now scientists at the University of California San Diego are talking about the addition of ‘leap seconds’ to atomic clocks in order to smooth out the distortions.“This will pose an unprecedented problem for computer network timing," it says. “Global warming is already affecting global time keeping.”
