[ntp:questions] A Suggestion For Abolishing the Leap Second

Brian Garrett mgy1912 at cox.net
Mon Jun 4 21:37:41 UTC 2007


"Quadibloc" <jsavard at ecn.ab.ca> wrote in message 
news:1180618827.087376.177280 at z28g2000prd.googlegroups.com...
> Some time back, controversy was raised by a suggestion that, due to
> the problems in Internet timekeeping caused by leap seconds, that we
> just go to straight atomic time.
>
> If people really don't like local 12 noon happening at a time other
> than lunchtime, they can always have a "leap hour", in effect
> switching time zones, eventually.
>
> Obviously, this was rejected. For one thing, even if it could be
> argued that people would put up with such shifts in time - after all,
> they accept daylight savings time - it would mean that while waiting
> for the leap hour, the scheme of daylight savings time would keep
> having to be changed to maintain the proper effects on energy use.
> [snip]

For the public at large, the time will always be whatever TheyT say it is, 
regardless of the sun's position with respect to the meridian. People at 
high latitudes are already used to the sun being out at all hours of the day 
or night, so this would simply be a matter of getting lower-latitude folks 
used to the idea.  Better yet, it might finally serve to get Americans to 
make the long-overdue switch to 24-hour timekeeping ("military time", as 
Yanks usually call it), as the old a.m. and p.m. designations would become 
virtually meaningless.


Brian






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