Earth is spinning faster this summer: July 22 among the shortest days ever recorded, scientists warn
Earth's rotation is speeding up this summer, leading to slightly shorter days—a phenomenon that has captured the attention of scientists, astronomers, and global timekeepers. On July 10, 2025, Earth recorded its shortest day of the year so far, running 1.36 milliseconds shorter than the standard 24 hours. Upcoming days, including July 22 and August 5, are also predicted to be shorter by 1.34 and 1.25 milliseconds, respectively. Though these variations are imperceptible in daily life, they can have serious implications for atomic timekeeping, digital infrastructure, and even how we measure time globally.
Earth is spinning faster leading to shorter days as observed on July 22
The length of a day—defined as one complete rotation of Earth on its axis—averages 86,400 seconds, or 24 hours. However, this measurement isn't perfectly fixed. Due to multiple dynamic factors, including:
Gravitational pull from the Moon
Atmospheric shifts
Fluid motion in Earth's liquid core
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Each daily rotation varies by milliseconds. These irregularities typically go unnoticed by the general public but are meticulously tracked by institutions like the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS) and US Naval Observatory.
Critical role of atomic clocks in managing millisecond-level shifts
Minor time deviations are not trivial. They can interfere with:
Satellite navigation (GPS)
Telecommunications
Computer systems
Global financial networks
That's why atomic clocks, which debuted in 1955, are used to maintain Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)—the international timekeeping standard. These clocks rely on oscillations of atoms, measured in vacuum chambers, to deliver ultra-precise readings of time. "Even millisecond differences matter in the world of high-frequency technology," says physicist Judah Levine from the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
How a faster-spinning Earth could force a timekeeping first
To keep UTC aligned with Earth's actual rotation, scientists have been adding "leap seconds" since 1972. This is similar to how a leap day corrects the calendar every four years. So far, 27 leap seconds have been added to account for Earth's previously slowing rotation.
But as Earth begins to spin faster, the need for leap seconds is declining. No leap seconds have been added since 2016, and in 2022, the General Conference on Weights and Measures voted to retire the leap second by 2035. However, if Earth continues this acceleration, scientists warn we may have to do something unprecedented—subtract a second, creating a negative leap second. The probability of this happening by 2035 is currently estimated at 40%.
What's causing Earth to spin faster
Several short- and long-term forces influence Earth's rotation speed:
Lunar Tidal forces
The Moon's gravitational pull slows or accelerates Earth depending on its position relative to the equator.
Atmospheric changes
During summer, Earth naturally spins faster because the jet stream shifts, and the atmosphere slows down, transferring angular momentum to the planet.
Earth's liquid core
For the past 50 years, Earth's liquid core has been slowing, while the solid outer Earth accelerates to maintain rotational balance. According to Dr. Duncan Agnew of UC San Diego, 'It's like watching the stock market—there are long-term trends, but also unpredictable fluctuations.'
How climate change and melting ice are altering Earth's rotation
Melting ice in Antarctica and Greenland is also impacting Earth's rotation. As vast amounts of ice convert into ocean water, the mass redistribution acts like a figure skater extending their arms, slightly slowing Earth's spin. Agnew's research in Nature found that: 'Without global warming and ice melt, we might already have needed to introduce a negative leap second.'
NASA confirms that meltwater from polar regions accounts for a third of global sea level rise since 1993, which also alters Earth's rotational axis. Due to the complexity of rotational factors, long-term predictions remain uncertain. The IERS only forecasts one year ahead. Levine notes that short-term changes tend to correlate day by day, but beyond that, accuracy drops sharply. 'We may see Earth slow down again in the coming years,' says Dr. Benedikt Soja, a geodesy expert at ETH Zurich. 'But if climate change worsens, its effect could eventually surpass that of the Moon—Earth's primary rotational driver for billions of years.'
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