Expert explains Earth's rotation speed. from @naturalhistorymuseum
Neil deGrasse Tyson explains that the Earth's rotation speed fluctuates daily by fractions of a millisecond. He lists several influencing factors like tides, earthquakes, and melting ice caps, which all redistribute the planet's mass. He explains that we measure these changes using hyper-accurate atomic clocks and adjust our timekeeping with leap seconds, concluding that even if we don't know the exact cause at any moment, the phenomenon is understood by physics and not mysterious.
Creator: @naturalhistorymuseum on TikTok
Transcript
The data show that today, Earth is rotating a little bit faster than yesterday or tomorrow. How much is a little? Like, a fraction of a millisecond? I don't think you're gonna notice it. Just I'm just saying. There's a dozen ways Earth's rotation rate can be influenced. Tides are a big force from the sun and the moon. Earthquakes are changing where the mass is on Earth's surface. Melting ice caps, water flowing off of land into the ocean changes where the mass is on Earth. All of this has an eff
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