--- title: "The Earth’s Rotation Is About to Spin Up So Much That Tomorrow Will Be Much Shorter Than Today" description: "July 9, July 22, and August 5 of this year will be some of the shortest days in years as a result of the Earth spinning faster." date: "2025-07-08" modified: "2025-07-08" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/earth-spin-days-shorter" categories: - "Science & Energy" - "Space" tags: - "atomic clocks" - "earth" - "earth rotation" - "the digest" --- # The Earth’s Rotation Is About to Spin Up So Much That Tomorrow Will Be Much Shorter Than Today ![July 9, July 22, and August 5 of this year will be some of the shortest days in years as a result of the Earth spinning faster.]() *\Image: Futurism\* ## Spin Cycle The Earth's rotation is about to accelerate significantly. According to scientists, July 9, July 22, and August 5 of this year will be some of the shortest days in recent memory as a result, slicing well over a millisecond off the usual 24 hours, [*Timeanddate.com* reports](). That's despite the Earth's full rotation taking almost exactly 86,400 seconds, the equivalent of 24 hours. The short upcoming days buck a decades-long trend. Since 1972, scientists have sliced a "leap second" from the clock a [whopping 27 times]() thanks to a steady deceleration. Our planet's sudden — and significant — acceleration caught scientists by surprise. "Nobody expected this," Moscow State University astronomer Leonid Zotov told *Timeanddate.com.* "The cause of this acceleration is not explained." "Most scientists believe it is something inside the Earth," he added. "Ocean and atmospheric models don’t explain this huge acceleration." ## Slicing Seconds Scientists have long found that numerous factors can influence the speed of the Earth's rotation, from [changing sea levels]() to the Moon [steadily increasing its orbit]() away from our planet. Using atomic clocks, we've been able to keep extremely close tabs on how these influences are affecting how we measure time on Earth. While its rotation had been steadily declining, the Earth reversed the trend in 2020, [beating 60-year-old records for the shortest days 28 times](). One possible explanation is that the Moon could be at its furthest point from the Earth's equator, as [*IFLScience* explains](). Another culprit could be powerful earthquakes knocking the Earth off its already tilted axis. In 2011, scientists found that a 9.0 earthquake in Japan [may have been ferocious enough]() to shorten days on Earth by offsetting its axis by roughly 6.5 inches. But whether the Earth will continue its surprising trend of spinning faster and faster remains a subject of debate. "There is a general consensus the Earth will slow down again (deceleration will win), but there is a risk that acceleration may be effective for a few decades," Geoscience Australia scientist Oleg Titov [told *The Guardian*](). **More on Earth's rotation:** *[Scientists Build Device to Generate Electricity Using the Earth's Rotation]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()