Did you know scientists say the Earth is moving at a faster rate?

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The news of Earth’s faster rotation has led to misleading posts on social media about the significance of the measurement

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On June 29, Earth recorded it’s shortest day since the adoption of the atomic clock standard in 1970. 

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The record was at 1.59 milli-seconds in less than 24 hours

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However, scientists say there’s no need to worry about the record-setting measurement. 

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That’s because the amount of time in a day is only an average.

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For the last several years, officials say there has been a trend that the Earth is slowing. Now, that trend is speeding up.

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Planetarium Manager at Sci-Port Discovery Center, Greg Andrews, says the Earth’s rotational speed fluctuates constantly for multiple reasons

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The moon and Earth’s gravitational pull on each other, the moon’s affect on the tides on Earth, and changes in the weather and climate on Earth.

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Andrews says the slight increase in the planet’s rotational speed does not mean there will be a major impact on the duration of a day.

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“It’s a change that was roughly speaking microseconds.

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It’s going to take a lot of milli-seconds to make it to one second and when you think about it, there are what 86,400 seconds in a day, something like that.

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That would have to be something that takes place over not just a couple of years, not just even a couple of decades.

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We’re talking hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years” he said.

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Andrews says leap seconds help to set off phenomena like this when it comes to keeping time, and the Earth’s flux in rotation.

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