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Sheena Vasani

Sheena Vasani

Commerce Writer

Sheena Vasani is a writer at The Verge. When she's not blogging or downing coffee, she is a passionate mental health activist and creator.

Melting ice, missing seconds.

University of California geologist Duncan Agnew published research in Nature saying the melting of ice in Greenland and Antarctica has contributed to slowing Earth’s rotation, reports Space.com.

While timekeepers have already agreed to stop adding leap seconds by 2035, Agnew claims a negative one will be necessary by 2029 and would’ve been required sooner if not for the effects of climate change. If that’s true — and not everyone agrees that it is — international timekeeping guidelines and the world’s computers will need updates.


Graph showing the time differences including or excluding melting accelerated by climate changes.
An adapted graph based on Agnew’s research.
Image: Nature.com