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FAIRFIELD-SUISUN, CALIFORNIA Earth's rotation speed slowed ever-so-slightly in recent decades, but the trend is now spinning in the other direction. (Dreamstime/TNS) Earth’s spin is believed to be speeding up As Earth’s rotation speed slowed ever-so-slightly in recent decades, leap seconds were added intermittently to keep clocks up to date. But if a new trend holds, time might need to be turned in the other direction some day soon. Earlier this month, The Daily Telegraph reported that Earth has reached its quickest spin speeds in the past half-century. “It’s quite possible that a neg...

As Earth’s rotation speed slowed ever-so-slightly in recent decades, leap seconds were added intermittently to keep clocks up to date. But if a new trend holds, time might need to be turned in the other direction some day soon. Earlier this month, The Daily Telegraph reported that Earth has reached its quickest spin speeds in the past half-century. “It’s quite possible that a negative leap second will be needed if Earth’s rotation rate increases further,” said Peter Whibberley, a senior research scientist with Britain’s National Physical Laboratory, according to ...

Earth has reportedly reached its quickest spin speeds in the past half-century.

Scientists say Earth is spinning faster than it has in decades

Despite how it may have felt, 2020 was shorter than previous years - Earth is spinning quicker than it has in decades insider@insider.com (Susie Neilson) © REUTERS/NASA/Handout via Reuters/File Photo A photo of Earth taken by NASA's Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC). REUTERS/NASA/Handout via Reuters/File Photo Earth's 28 fastest days ever recorded happened in 2020. On average, the planet rotated more quickly around its axis last year than it did in previous years.  Scientists who measure the speed of Earth's rotation think 2021 may be even faster than 2020. If so, ...