The Earth’s Inner Core Just Changed Speed Which Could Alter the Length of a Day

Amaze Lab

The Earth rotates on an axis and deep under its crust, so does its core. However, experts now say their observations have revealed that the inner core is changing speed and it could actually change the length of our days.

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00:00The Earth rotates on an axis, and deep under its crust, so does its core.

00:08However, experts now say their observations have revealed that the inner core is changing

00:12speed and it could actually change the length of our days.

00:15Earth's inner core is located around 3,000 miles underground and is around two-thirds

00:20the size of the moon.

00:21It consists of molten nickel and iron, and by looking at seismic data, which provides

00:25an insight into the reverberations that ripple through the core, geoscientists have been

00:29able to perceive the movement of the inner core, finding it slowing down.

00:33They say the slowing process began in 2010, likely caused by either the outer core's

00:37movement or some gravitational forces, with the researchers telling USA Today,

00:41When I first saw the seismograms that hinted at this change, I was stumped.

00:45But when we found two dozen more observations signaling the same pattern, the result was

00:50inescapable.

00:51So should we be worried?

00:52Probably not.

00:53Here's how the researchers explained it to USC journalists.

00:56It would be very hard to notice, on the order of a thousandth of a second, almost lost in

01:00the noise of the churning oceans and atmosphere.

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