Global clock may be removed by 1 second in 2029, affecting computer systems and precision technology

Around 2029, everyone on Earth will have one second. This not only affects our time, but also brings significant impact to the computer industry and the field of precise timing.

On March 27, 2024, a new study published in the journal Nature stated that the Earth’s rotation rate, mainly due to the role of the Mongolian Earth nucleus, is defying the long-term trend of slowing down. In reality, it is accelerating, which has led to the absence of changes in the form of correcting errors in the two time systems we are currently using. It is necessary to manually shorten the clock by one second around 2029, and at that time, there may be no occurrence of “back leap seconds” for the first time. But the exact time that has not yet appeared is to some extent affected by the global warming effect.
Due to the slight fluctuations in the Earth’s rotational speed, our current calendar does not have an additional day in February every four years, which is called a normal year. However, what most people do not realize is that, unlike similar principles, every few years, domestic clocks also artificially add one second, which is called a “positive leap second”.
This phenomenon is brought about by our adoption of two time systems – geographic time and atomic clock time. Geographic time is based on the rotation of the Earth. But after 1955, the world began to adopt atomic clock time, a more accurate and stable form of timing. This is a timing form based on the physical trajectory of atoms, and it can be basically consistent with geographical time. However, there are fluctuations in the Earth’s rotation rate, causing two time standards to gradually become inconsistent, which means that they must be realigned from time to time by adding or briefly “leap seconds”.
For decades, this form of operation has been consistently good. Since 1972, there have been 27 leap seconds added, the latest of which was in 2016. However, scientists and educators have found that since around 2020, the Earth’s rotation has been accelerating, which is inconsistent with its long-term trend. This pair of metrology experts will face an unprecedented prospect of memorizing leap seconds.
The result is that for decades, our highly computerized society has been operating in the form of “positive leap seconds”, and in the next few years, there will be no situation of “reverse leap seconds”, which will cause chaos to the current computer related system.
Internet, positioning system, static telephone collection and other techniques are all based on extremely accurate atomic clock, and the calculation system configured for stock business and other movements is even more accurate to one thousandth of a second. Many computer systems have a way to add one second to cope with the phenomenon of “positive leap seconds”. According to the Associated Press, technology giants such as Google and Amazon have unilaterally formulated their own plans to apply for leap second results by gradually adding a fraction of a second in a day.
But the absence of the “leap second memorization” means that the world needs to reprogram the computer, but this is not easy. In 2012, some computer systems even mishandled and punished “positive leap seconds”, which resulted in websites such as Reddit, Linux, and Qantas not achieving results.
“Given that humans have never dealt with or attempted to memorize leap seconds, the results it can achieve are unprecedented,” Patrizia Tavella, a member of the Time Department at the French Bureau of Metrology, wrote in an article.
Duncan Agnew, the lead author of the new research and geophysicist at the University of California, San Diego, further pointed out that “this could bring unprecedented results to smartphones and computers.” He said that although it would not cause any calamity, it is indeed an unprecedented situation and a small matter. Furthermore, this reinterprets that our planet is currently in a very unusual era.
Another important discovery of the new research is that it has budgeted for the potential effects of global warming, and unexpectedly discovered that it indirectly delayed the time when the “back leap second” disappeared by about three years. After studying and calculating, if it weren’t for global warming, we could have experienced a leap second in 2026.
“Global warming has led to the melting of glaciers in the north and south poles of the Earth, causing water flow from the poles to continuously converge into the land near the equator, further slowing down the rate of Earth’s rotation and affecting our timing based on Earth’s rotation,” New Diamond wrote.
“This is similar to how figure skaters lift their arms above their heads when accelerating their twisting, and lower their arms to the sides of their body when they increase their twisting speed,” said Ted Scambos, a glacier educator at the University of Colorado Boulder, in an analogy to CNN.
The main author of the study, Duncan Agnew, stated that polar glaciers have melted sufficiently and are significantly affecting the Earth’s rotation in an unprecedented form. He was surprised by the fact that human movement caused changes in the Earth’s rotation.
Due to different timing forms and the ongoing changes in Earth’s rotation, this series of identities poses a risk of chaos for our computer society. In 2022, global timing educators have voted to ban leap second modifications starting from 2035. But before the ban, we may have to experience the first or last “leap second”.
“This will be a ‘surprising’ time for some computers to use French to do the Tao,” said Ted Scambos, a glacier educator at the University of Colorado Boulder. “But for most people going to the Tao, their lives will still be.”