Climate change is changing how we keep time

Melting ice sheets are slowing Earth's rotation speed, complicating global timekeeping

A picture of Greenland's ice sheet near Baffin Bay.

The rapidly accelerating melting of Earth’s polar ice sheets — including ice atop Greenland (shown here) — is slowing the planet’s spin, which affects global timekeeping.

KEREM YUCEL/AFP via Getty Images

Climate change may be making it harder to know exactly what time it is.