Three Gorges Dam May Increase the Length of a Day by 0.06 Microseconds

4 months ago 5

NASA continues to make groundbreaking discoveries. Among its recent findings was the cause and timetable for life on Earth coming to an end. According to the chilling study by Toho University, life on Earth will end due to the loss of oxygen. But don't worry, that won't happen for at least another billion years.

In addition, NASA has made other concerning findings. One of them included the Colorado River Basin, and how it is emptying at an alarming rate. Now, the Three Gorges Dam isn't facing these types of issues. However, according to NASA, the massive Dam in China might be altering global time-keeping and the Earth's rotation.

We'll take a closer look at the findings and other factors that are tampering with the Earth's rotation.

Three Gorges Dam May Increase The Length Of A Day By 0.06 Microseconds, According To NASA

A human-made structure that's altering the Earth's rotation? Yes, that's what NASA has concluded in one of its latest findings. China's Three Gorges Dam is the largest hydroelectric dam, which influences both global dynamics and mass energy production. Its movements are so powerful that it can impact the entire Earth's rotation in microseconds.

To put this into context, if the Three Gorges Dam were filled with 10 trillion gallons of water, this would, in turn, increase the length of a day by 0.06 microseconds. Sure, that isn't much, but given its impact on the Earth's rotation, it is pretty mind-blowing to think about.

NASA has continued with studies related to the Earth's changing rotation. Climate change has also played a significant role in recent developments.

NASA Added That The Earth's Rotation Is Also Changing Due To Climate Change

Thanks to more than 120 years of data, NASA was able to link climate change to the Earth's changing rotation.

Factors Include:

Melting ice
Dwindling groundwater
Rising sea levels

Research from Nature's "Contributions of core, mantle and climatological processes to Earth’s polar motion" confirmed that, since 2000, days are 1.33 milliseconds longer per 100 years. Glaciers melting in Antarctica and Greenland are believed to be caused by human-created greenhouse emissions.

Users online had a lot to say about NASA's recent findings. There was a mix of reactions, ranging from mild to strong. We saw users showcase their sense of humor on the matter, while others believe the issue will only intensify heading into the future.

Users React To NASA's Time Disruption Discovery:

"For reference, this amounts to a bit more than 3 days over the entire age of the universe."
"For reference. 0.06 microseconds is the amount of time that passes before you get honked at from behind after the traffic light turned green."
"Moving that much water upwards is analogous to a figure skater moving their arms outward while spinning. They slow down. Since earth is a closed (mass) system, when trillions of pounds of water are elevated, conservation of momentum cancels the mass redistribution on a rotating body by affecting its rotational speed."
"It's a very easy calculation based on angular momentum. to clarify, this is not much an interesting fact (to me as an engineer anyway). all dams do this. building a skyscraper does this. any time you move mass to higher elevation this happens. this only difference is whether it's 0.00000006 seconds or some other equally irrelevant amount."
"All that water....lots of it...is now held up high, rather than flowing to the sea. Higher altitude means further from the axis of rotation. Like moving further out on a playground roundabout, or a figure skater sticking their arms out when they're doing a twirly thing."