The New Year Arrived One Second Late
The speed of the Earth's rotation is continually changing -- partly due to varying weather patterns and geological disturbances, but more importantly due to the friction of tides raised by the Sun and Moon, which cause a systematic lengthening of the day. To account for this gradual slowing down of the Earth's rotation, a leap second was added at the end of 2005 by the U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO), thus delaying the arrival of 2006 by one second.
Comments:
Interesting article but one or two questions. <br><br>Because "Time" and the methods we use today to measure time really mean nothing other than providing an artificial structure to our lives, is it really neccessary for one entire second to be added by USNO? Or is this another ploy to help them feel like ther're important and needed?<br><br>
Although one second may seem irrelevant in the scheme of our lives, the fact that the earth's rotation can show measurable changes does. Maybe the geological forces that caused the tsunami have something to do with the earth's rotation speed.
I knew 2005 seemed like a long year.
Funding Member
