Earth's rotation is slowing

The Earth's rotation is slowing down because of the moon moving further away.
One hundred years from now, the day will be 0.0015 seconds (1.5 milliseconds) longer than it is now.

Or 1 second longer every 666.67 times 100 years, or 1 second in 66,667 years

Meaning, One hundred years ago, the day was 0.0015 seconds shorter than it is now.

So in a million years, it would be 15 seconds longer,
450 million years ago (when earth first formed) it was 6750 seconds - or 1.8 hours - shorter

You can look at certain corals from the Carboniferous, which show distinctive daily growth patterns, which vary annually also. From this we get confirmation of the greater number of day in a year, and hence of the shorter day.

A final point: the Earth is not slowing solely because the moon is moving away from us. The Earth is slowing and the moon is moving away from us because of the tidal interaction of the two bodies.



© Copyright Roger Chappell, site powered by m2cms and a bunch of geniuses at media two | Free websites | New Zealand Free websites | Norwegian Free Websites | e-newsletters