How an accelerating Earth led experts to adopt the leap hour
International delegates agree leap second no longer tenable, but first leap hour not likely to happen for thousands of years After decades of discussion, quibbling and worrying about clocks in computer systems, the world’s official timekeepers have voted to replace what many viewed as a tiresome correction: the leap second. It’s time, they say, for the leap hour. Delegates from 69 countries cast…
After decades of debate, the world's timekeeping experts have decided to replace the controversial leap second with a more practical solution: the leap hour. This vote, taken by delegates from 69 countries at a conference in France of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, aims to alleviate the strain on computer systems that struggle with irregular minute lengths of 61 or 59 seconds.
Dr. Setnam Shemar, principal scientist at the UK’s National Physical Laboratory, expressed support for the leap hour, stating that it will reduce risks to critical infrastructure while preserving the link between global time and Earth's rotation. The decision is unlikely to be implemented for thousands of years due to the relatively slow drift of UTC from astronomical time.
Leap seconds have been added since 1972 to keep UTC aligned with Earth's rotation, but recent data suggests that Earth's rotation is becoming erratic, with recent acceleration raising concerns about potential software failures and system outages. The vote in Versailles means that coordinated universal time (UTC) can now drift up to an hour from astronomical time before a leap hour is needed, an event that is expected to occur in thousands of years.
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