Climate change is affecting time.

The speed of the Earth’s rotation is being impacted by climate change, and this could impact global timekeeping. The fact that the melting of ice in Greenland and Antarctica is occurring, the additional mass in the world’s oceans is causing a mass redistribution. This has caused a decrease in the Earth’s rotation and an increase in the speed at which the Earth is spinning.  

A new study written by Duncan Carr Agnew and published in Nature suggests that “Global warming is already affecting global timekeeping”.

The way that we currently keep time depends on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). This is the manner in which most time and clocks are regulated, and it is calculated by the Earth’s rotation. However, depending on the consistency of the Earth’s rotation determines how long the days are.

As a result of changes in the Earth’s liquid core, the Earth has been spinning faster. In order to correct this anomaly, 27 leap seconds has been added. Now in 2026 (for the first time) timekeepers plan on subtracting a second (a ‘negative leap second’).

In his study, Agnew suggests that ice sheets have begun to lose mass faster than they were 30 years ago, and this means that the negative leap second will not be needed until 2029. Agnew stated "This has never happened before, and poses a major challenge to making sure that all parts of the global timing infrastructure show the same time."

There are some who disagree with the Study. Former chief scientist for time services at the US Naval Observatory Demetrios Matsakis who disagree with the Study, states “Earth is too unpredictable to be sure" that a negative leap second would be required soon.
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Sources:

1.       Duncan Carr Agnew Nature Article: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07170-0

2.       BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-68684244