[ntp:questions] Re: Bulletin C 28 -- NO positive leap second at the end of December 2004

Wolfgang S. Rupprecht wolfgang+gnus20041012T134827 at dailyplanet.dontspam.wsrcc.com
Tue Oct 12 21:04:20 UTC 2004


Terje Mathisen <terje.mathisen at hda.hydro.com> writes:
> Urs Thuermann wrote:
> > What is the reason for not having a leap second for so long?  From
> > 1972 to 1999 we had a leap second roughly every 1.25 years, with
> > intervalls slightly increasing.  The longest period before January
> > 1999 without a leap second was 2.5 years.  Now we have 6 years without
> > a leap second.  Has the earth stopped slowing down its rotation?
> 
> Even worse, afaik it must have speeded up, otherwise it would have
> kept on dropping seconds at approximately the old rate.

Maybe pumping all that oil from those equatorial countries and moving
it to higher latitudes wasn't such a bright idea after all.  I guess
we'll have to move something of roughly equal mass from our latitude
back there to return to the old moment of inertia.  Oh wait a second.
George Bush already did that last spring.  Are we seeing any slowing
down of the rotation yet?  ;-)

-wolfgang
-- 
Wolfgang S. Rupprecht                http://www.wsrcc.com/wolfgang/



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