00:00Here is a strange fact. El Nino can make every day on Earth a little longer.
00:05NOAA says that at the peak of a strong El Nino, the length of a day can stretch by about
00:10one millisecond.
00:11That is one thousandth of a second, or roughly one part in 100 million of the 86,400 seconds in
00:18a day.
00:18So why does it happen?
00:20During El Nino, the trade winds across the tropical Pacific weaken,
00:24while winds farther from the equator strengthen in the west-to-east direction.
00:28That shifts angular momentum between the atmosphere and the solid Earth.
00:33To keep the whole system balanced, Earth's rotation slows slightly.
00:37A bit like a spinning ballerina extending her arms,
00:40NASA says the atmosphere, oceans, groundwater, and ice all change day length over different timescales
00:46by a few milliseconds over a year.
00:49You will never notice it on your watch, but scientists can measure it.
00:53And El Nino is intensifying across the Pacific right now.
00:57This video contains stock footage and content created or enhanced using AI-assisted tools.
