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Earth’s days are getting longer as the planet’s spin slows down, and the melting of ice by human-caused climate change is partly to blame, say researchers.<\/p>
A NASA-funded study used over 120 years of data to show how melting glaciers and ice sheets, dwindling groundwater and rising seas are affecting Earth’s spin axis and lengthening its days.<\/p>
Since the year 2000, the study says, days have been getting longer by 1.33 milliseconds per 100 years, marking the fastest such change compared to any time in the previous century.<\/p>
Find out how Earth-orbiting satellites measure climate change<\/a> and how astronomy helps us protect Earth<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p> Earth’s days are getting longer, and the extent of this change is accelerating.<\/p> Plus, the planet’s rotational axis moved about 30 feet (10 metres) in the past 120 years.<\/p> This, say researchers, is a result of a redistribution of ice and water caused as ice sheets and glaciers melt more than they accumulate from snowfall.<\/p> It’s also caused by loss of groundwater that’s not being replenished by rain.<\/p> The effect of these phenomena is a shift in mass that causes Earth to wobble and its spin axis to move (known as ‘polar motion’).<\/p>Melting ice is affecting Earth’s rotation<\/strong><\/h2>