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hankbaumbachjr t1_ixdl8x8 wrote

So what's going to happen when clocks diverge going forward? Will that create issues with precision or solve them? I genuinely don't understand this problem.

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Isopbc t1_ixdt5yw wrote

Clocks aren’t diverging, the earth’s rotation changes when big earthquakes happen.

The issue would be the clock will not match the point of the sun in the sky… by a second or two.

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Penny_is_a_Bitch t1_ixfy1eb wrote

not just earthquakes. inner earth isn't perfectly balanced, which can throw off rotation. the moon creates drag. oceans... etc, etc.

my timeframe might be off but back when dinosaurs were around, days were 22h. rotation has been slowing for a long time.

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hellojuly t1_ixgkj8q wrote

Sun doesn’t match the clock pretty much everywhere. That’s a good enough reason not to bother with leap seconds. If the difference doesn’t balance out naturally then they can have a leap 22 seconds when it’s needed.

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