Earth's Orbit around the Sun Slowing Down.

I have heard this for the last few years and find it very interesting. No one can give a definite answer to why we are slowing down its all just guess work right now. The only good thing that I see is that we can do away with the leap second.

www.local6.com...

maybe because our magnetic field is getting weaker and weaker and after the pole shift it wil accelerate again?

Nope. Standard orbital mechanics. The "slow down" rate has to do with the moon and the distance of Earth from the sun. And it's a TINY impact... a few seconds every thous and years.

What's more alarming is the moon is slowly moving away from the earth. No link, but there was an hour long show on the science channel discussing this.

Originally posted by dangermouse
What's more alarming is the moon is slowly moving away from the earth. No link, but there was an hour long show on the science channel discussing this.

Could be worse Phobos is going to crash into Mars.

They made the point that life as we know it could not exist without the stabilizing effect of the moon.

I thought we were always slowing down and getting sucked into the Sun. Like trash in water circling a drain.

There's no perpetual motion mechanics.

Originally posted by RANT
I thought we were always slowing down and getting sucked into the Sun. Like trash in water circling a drain.

There's no perpetual motion mechanics.

Nope. Remember Newton? A body in motion will remain in motion unless acted on by an outside force.

Since space is a vacuum (or nearly so), friction with a handful of interstellar particles (gas, dust and a few odd asteroids) won�t have much affect considering the difference in mass.

There is conservation of angular momentum affect being applied here somewhere. The question is what is causing it? (No Planet X theories, please).

Originally posted by dangermouse
What's more alarming is the moon is slowly moving away from the earth. No link, but there was an hour long show on the science channel discussing this.

2 inches per year, I think that is what was discovered. Either way, not enough to alarm anyone.

Is it possible that the earth elliptical orbit to the sun is not slowing down but changing.Instead of normal elliptical orbit it maybe very slowy changing into a more slender elliptical orbit where at two points during the year the earth is further away from the sun even further than normal and much closer to the sun than normal.The reason why i may have beleived this may be happening is because of the change in the seasons.If the southern hemesphere summer occures at the point fururest away from the sun.The souther hemesphere summer will be cooler and the northern hemesphere winter will be colder.At the other end of the elliptical orbit when the northern hemesphere summer occures closer to the sun than usual the northern hemesphere summer will be hotter and the southern hemespheres winter will be warmer.This is how the seasons are changing.Will the elliptical orbit become more progressive over time which will make the earth come much closer to the sun at one end of the elliptical orbit and much further away at the other end of the elliptical orbit.This maybe come very disasterious for life on earth as one part of the year will turn into a ice age and at the other end of the year the planet will become as hot as venus.Even if something like this is only changing very slightly each year.In 100 or two hundread years the earth will be unlivable for life if this elliptical orbit progresses in this way.

Just think of the positives. Summers will get longer and warmer, winters shorter, thats all i got right now.