posted on Mar, 31 2004 @ 02:13 AM
El Nino slows down the earth:
El Ni�o temporarily caused the day to grow longer by slowing down the Earth's rotation, according to Dr. John Gipson of NASA's Goddard Space Flight
Center in Greenbelt, Md. The increase was slight, about 0.6 milliseconds (6/10,000 of a second) at its peak, and required extraordinarily sensitive
measurements from the Very Long Baseline Interferometery (VLBI) network, a global array of radio telescopes, to detect. El Ni�o increased the speed of
the atmosphere, which slowed the Earth's spin.
Tides slow down the earth:
The interaction of the Moon and the tides is pumping angular momentum out of Earth's spin and into the Moon's orbit.
angular momentum:
A quantity obtained by multiplying the mass of an orbiting body by its velocity and the radius of its orbit. According to the conservation laws of
physics, the angular momentum of any orbiting body must remain constant at all points in the orbit, i.e., it cannot be created or destroyed. If the
orbit is elliptical the radius will vary. Since the mass is constant, the velocity changes. Thus planets in elliptical orbits travel faster at
perihelion and more slowly at aphelion. A spinning body also possesses spin angular momentum.
Earth already slowed down and is still slowing:
Based upon interpretations espoused by leading researchers in this field, it is widely believed (based upon coral fossils) that the annual cycle of
the ancient past contained more days than the current annual cycle (which is 365.24). The indication that the ancient year contained more days is
interpreted to mean that the spin of the Earth has gradually slowed across millions of years.
www.xs4all.nl...
imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov...
Hope this will answer your questions.
Out,
Russian
[Edited on 31-3-2004 by Russian]