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A leap second to be inserted at the New Year's beginning

A leap second to be inserted at the New Year's beginning

Write: Floke [2011-05-20]

A leap second to be inserted at the New Year's beginning


For those complaining they are short of time, they will get it. The National Time Service Center at CAS recently made an announcement that a second is to be inserted at the beginning of 1 January, 2009, to keep the clocks synchronized with the Earth's rotation.
The adjustment will be a coordinated action across the world according to International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service. A positive leap second will be added at the end of December 2008 as an additional second after 23:59:59 UTC (Universal Time Coordinated).
Leap seconds are necessary because time is measured using stable atomic clocks, whereas the rotation of Earth slows down continually, though at a slightly variable rate.
Since 1972, leap seconds have been added at intervals varying from six months to seven years, with the last being inserted on December 31, 2005.