ABU DHABI // Not enough seconds in the day to get everything done? Tuesday may help.
A “leap second” will be added to time around the world just before 4am to adjust for the occasional slight slowdown in the Earth’s rotation, the Emirates Metrology Institute said on Monday.
The “extra” second will be added at 3.59am and 60 seconds. It is the 26th time an adjustment has been made
Until 1968, the length of the second was based on the rotation of the Earth by observing mean solar time.
But the rotation, which fluctuates unpredictably, slows down because of friction caused by ocean tides.
The move follows a decision by the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service in January to adjust coordinated universal time, said Dr Helal Al Kaabi, executive director of EMI.
A unified system of measures and standards for the GCC is also in the pipeline.
newsdesk@thenational.ae
