Earth days will be longer in the future, study says

As humanity advances in understanding the cosmos and exploring the spacescientific discoveries often challenge entrenched conceptions about the world we live in.

Recently, an innovative study has been provoking reflections on the very nature of time and its implications for life on Earth.

According to renowned researchers, future days on our planet could extend beyond the traditional 24 hours, reaching a duration of 25 hours.

Study shows that in the future Earth will have 25 hours

The Sun’s return to Earth will take 25 hours to complete – Image: tawatchai07/Freepik

Researchers conducted a study that achieved the most accurate measurement yet of the rotation of the Earth.

With the help of the annular laser at the Wettzell Geodetic Observatory, it was possible to calculate the current rotation speed of our planet with remarkable precision, reaching up to nine decimal places.

The slowdown in Earth’s rotation, a natural process throughout the planet’s history, results from several influences, such as lunar attraction, friction from ocean tides and the atmosphere.

Although these changes occur almost imperceptibly to us, they are clearly evident in geological history.

For example, 1.4 billion years ago, a day lasted just 18 hours and 41 minutes, whereas in the age of dinosaurs, this period extended to about 23 hours.

Contrary to popular belief that rotation Earth follows an exact 24-hour cycle, the heterogeneity of its composition, including solids and liquids, influences this rotation speed.

The study found that the planet’s rotation speed is gradually decreasing, on average, by 1.7 milliseconds per century.

This slowdown is mainly attributed to two factors: tidal friction, resulting from the gravitational interaction between the Earth and the Moon, and other effects, such as seismic activity and changes in atmospheric circulation.

Measuring variations in the Earth’s rotation speed was carried out by German researchers using an optical ring laser interferometer.

This device, fixed to the Earth’s crust, operates in the Sagnac configuration, in which the phase difference between the light beams depends on the rotation speed.

A new corrective algorithm was employed to reduce measurement errors, differentiating itself from the previous method, which was based on external reference points such as stars.

Regarding the future, the study estimates that the Earth it could have 25-hour days in approximately 200 million years.

This distant time horizon raises uncertainty about the fate of humanity and raises the possibility that the next supercontinent is in the making.

The study also differentiates the sidereal day, which is the time it takes the Earth to rotate on its axis in relation to the fixed stars (currently 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4 seconds), from the solar day, which is the time the Earth takes to rotate around the Sun (lasting 24 hours).

This difference is due to the movement of the Earth around the Sun, which causes the Earth day to be slightly longer than the sidereal day.