Name: Simon
Status: other
Age: 30s
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: 1999 - 2000
Question:
My wife says she has heard that the eath is spinning slower
and slower and that somebody has claimed that in a few years it may even
stop! This seems quite major. First, is this true and second what would
be the implications if it did ?
Replies:
Here's what I read somewhere. The time required for a complete
rotation of the earth gets shorter by 0.53 seconds every century.
When the earth stops, it will get very hot on one side and very cold on
the other. We probably should leave before this happens. I plan to,
anyway.
Tim Mooney
Yes, it is true. But don't worry about it. Your "few years" is well into the
billions of years. I guess it depends on your time frame.
I do not have the reference near by, but I seem to recall the day is
lengthening by .0016 seconds per year. I am not confident in the precision of
this number, but the concept is right.
Don't lose sleep worrying! I expect the sun will burn out before the earth
stops spinning. If you need to fret, perhaps the death of the sun is a better
target - I seem to recall about 4.5 billion years - something in the range of
150 million generations.
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