Science & Tech · Science & Environment · 8 hrs ago
Timekeepers to vote on ending leap seconds
Delegates will meet near Versailles this week to vote on whether to stop adding leap seconds to clocks.
These extra seconds have been used since 1972 to keep atomic time aligned with Earth's rotation, which varies slightly.
Atomic clocks underpin coordinated universal time, or UTC, the standard used to keep time around the world.
Earth’s changing rotation can make UTC drift out of sync with the planet’s spin.
Leap seconds have been added 27 times, most recently at the end of 2016.
They can cause problems for computer software that assumes time only moves forward and every minute has 60 seconds.
If delegates vote to end them, the proposal is to leave a much larger adjustment, called a leap hour, for people centuries in the future.
Delegates are due to vote this week on whether to abandon leap seconds.
The vote is to take place near the Palace of Versailles in France.
Leap seconds have been added 27 times since their introduction in 1972 to keep atomic time aligned with Earth’s rotation.
They can disrupt computer systems because some software assumes time only moves forward.
If the vote succeeds, the proposal would leave people centuries in the future to observe a leap hour.
- Who
- Delegates responsible for the decision on leap seconds.
- What
- They will vote on whether to abandon leap seconds and propose a leap hour instead.
- When
- Later this week, according to the article published on October 12, 2026.
- Where
- Near the Palace of Versailles in France.
- Why
- Leap seconds can disrupt software, and Earth’s rotation does not match atomic time exactly.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Atmosphere, wind, big ocean currents, glaciers melting, big volcanoes, redistribution of mass in the inner Earth
There was no exact value to begin with because it was changing all the time
leap seconds broke some software's assumptions about time, such as that it only moved forwards and there were 60 seconds in a minute
Leap seconds were introduced.
The most recent leap second was added.
Earth has sped up, according to the article.
Delegates are due to vote near the Palace of Versailles on whether to abandon leap seconds.
- Leap seconds added
- 27
- Introduction
- 1972
- Most recent leap second
- End of 2016
- Proposed replacement
- Leap hour
- Vote location
- Near the Palace of Versailles, France
Sources
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