No more Earth second  

This is the decision of the scientists

Over the last century, extra seconds have been added to our clocks to compensate for the difference between atomic clocks and the decrease in the Earth’s rotation speed. And while the extra seconds are not noticed by most people, they can cause problems in systems that require an accurate, uninterrupted flow of time such as satellite navigation, software, telecommunications, commerce or even space travel.

But the extra seconds cause a headache for the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM), which is responsible for the international standard by which the world sets its clocks. So scientists and government representatives, during the General Conference on Weights and Measures in France, made the decision to stop adding extra seconds until 2035.

This will allow a continuous flow of seconds without the interruptions currently caused by extra seconds. The change will take place on or before 2035.

Although all 59 states agreed in principle, Russia wants a timetable of up to 2040, while other countries want a faster change to 2025. So a middle ground of 2035 was chosen.

The connection between UTC and the rotation of the Earth will not be lost. Nothing will change for the audience.

Seconds were measured by astronomers by analyzing the Earth’s rotation, however the advent of atomic clocks which use the frequency of atoms as their tick-tock mechanism ushered in an era of greater precision in recording time. But the Earth’s slowing rotation means the two times are out of sync. To bridge the gap, extra seconds were introduced in 1972 and 27 seconds have been introduced to date. The last one was added in 2016.

From 2035 the difference between atomic and astronomical time will be allowed to increase beyond a second, with a maximum value yet to be decided. It might be allowed to reach one minute, which would take somewhere between 50 and 100 years.