Scientists have reported that Earth will spin a little faster than usual in the coming weeks, making each day slightly shorter than the normal 24 hours. According to Live Science, this will happen on July 9, July 22, and August 5, 2025, due to the position of the moon. On these days, the Earth's rotation will speed up, and the days will be shorter by about 1.3 to 1.51 milliseconds.

A normal day on Earth lasts 86,400 seconds, which is 24 hours. But scientists say Earth’s spin is not always the same. It changes because of different factors like the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun, the Earth’s magnetic field, and the movement of Earth’s mass caused by natural or human activities.

In fact, Earth’s rotation has been slowing down over millions of years. Scientists say that around 1 to 2 billion years ago, a day was only 19 hours long. That was when the moon was closer to Earth, and its pull was stronger. As the moon slowly moved away, days on Earth became longer.

Interestingly, in 2020, Earth spun faster than it had since the 1970s. The shortest day ever recorded was on July 5, 2024, which was 1.66 milliseconds shorter than usual.

The moon’s distance from Earth’s equator also affects how fast Earth spins. When the moon is in certain positions, it can increase the spin, like a spinning top that speeds up when its position shifts.

Other things like climate change, melting ice, groundwater movement, earthquakes, and seasonal changes can also impact Earth’s rotation. For example, the 2011 Japan earthquake made the Earth spin slightly faster, shortening the day by 1.8 microseconds.

Richard Holme, a geophysicist at the University of Liverpool, told Live Science:

"There is more land in the northern hemisphere than the south. In the northern summer, the trees get leaves, which means that mass is moved from the ground to above the ground, further away from the Earth's spin axis."

He explained this by comparing Earth to a spinning ice skater.

"When an ice skater spins on the spot, they rotate faster when their arms are tight to their chest and slow themselves down by stretching their arms out."

So, when Earth's mass moves away from its centre, the rotation slows down, and the day becomes longer.

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