NASA identifies a change in Earth's rotation speed - 25-hour day after 200 million years

Latest studies conducted by the American space agency NASA have confirmed, using highly accurate technical data, that significant changes are occurring in the speed at which the Earth rotates on its axis. These variations in rotational speed are directly altering the duration of an Earth day, and this is recognized not merely as a result of a single factor, but as a combination of several complex factors including historical natural processes, the progression of climate change, and the impact of human activities.

Although this change in the length of a day is recorded in very small units such as milliseconds or microseconds, the tendency for the solar day to gradually lengthen has already begun to pose significant challenges in maintaining critical technological systems such as global communication networks and GPS navigation systems.

From ancient times, Earth's rotation was not entirely uniform due to internal dynamics, wind currents, and tides, with the Moon's gravitational force playing a major role. This effect of the Moon on ocean waters acts as a brake on Earth's rotation, lengthening the day by about 1.7 milliseconds per century. However, NASA research indicates that modern environmental factors are altering this natural balance in unprecedented ways. Particularly since the beginning of the new millennium, it has been observed that the pattern of Earth's mass distribution has undergone significant changes due to glacier melt, rapid depletion of groundwater reserves, and rising sea levels.

This mass variation caused by climate change has directly impacted Earth's axis, and it alone has been revealed to lengthen the day by an additional 1.33 milliseconds per century. If greenhouse gas emissions continue at current levels, scientific models warn that the increase in day length due to climate impact could rise to 2.62 milliseconds per century by the end of this century, potentially even surpassing the Moon's gravitational effect. Furthermore, massive human constructions like China's 'Three Gorges' Dam also affect Earth's activity; by retaining an enormous amount of water, it has altered Earth's mass distribution, leading to an increase in day length by 0.06 microseconds and a slight change in the axial tilt.

Contrary to climatic and human factors, some large-scale geological events have been able to shorten the day by altering Earth's mass distribution. For instance, scientists state that the powerful earthquake in the Indian Ocean in 2004, through tectonic plate displacement, managed to shorten Earth's day by 2.68 microseconds. However, since it is estimated that a prolonged period of about 200 million years will pass before a situation like the day lengthening to 25 hours occurs, scientists' primary focus currently is solely on continuously maintaining the accuracy of satellite navigation systems in the face of these subtle time changes.