The Earth’s Rotation is Clearly Slowing Down, U.S. and German Researchers Demonstrate.
A recent study published in Nature Geoscience reveals that the Earth’s rotation has slowed significantly since the planet’s formation and continues to change, while the Moon is gradually moving away.
Microbiologist Gregory Dick from the University of Michigan (U.S.) stated that he and his colleagues have studied the process of atmospheric oxidation on Earth, which is closely related to the planet’s rotation speed. “Our research shows that the Earth’s rotation speed, or in other words, its day length, can have a significant impact on the patterns and timing of Earth’s oxidation,” he said.
The Earth and its atmosphere are significantly affected by rotation – (Photo: NASA)
According to Science Alert, a notable point occurred 2.4 billion years ago when cyanobacteria emerged and proliferated, producing more oxygen as a byproduct of their metabolism. These organisms are crucial for life on Earth, as they created the necessary environment for other species to emerge, survive, and evolve, including humans.
Cyanobacteria are considered “late bloomers,” so the Great Oxidation Event, which triggered a burst of life, could only occur when a day was long enough. By linking evolutionary models, global patterns, and oxygen concentration, the research team found that day length has been repeatedly associated with increases in Earth’s oxygen levels, including the aforementioned event 2.4 billion years ago and a Neoproterozoic Oxidation Event that occurred around 800-550 million years ago.
They pointed out that 1.4 billion years ago, a day on Earth was only 18 hours long. Seventy million years ago, a day was half an hour shorter than today. Statistics show that a day is currently increasing by about 1.8 milliseconds per century.
The reason the Earth is slowing down its rotation is due to the gravitational pull from the Moon. Scientists have discovered that this satellite is gradually drifting away from Earth, thereby slowing the planet’s rotation.
This study was a collaboration between the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology and the Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Research (Germany).
