The world’s “time director” explains why we need to adjust our clocks permanently. By Alison George.
The world’s “time director,” Felicitas Arias, runs the time department at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Paris, France. In the interview below, she explains why we need to fundamentally change the way we measure how time passes.
Next month there will be a vote on whether to fundamentally change the world’s time standard. Why?
Coordinated universal time (UTC) is the time scale used all over the world for time coordination. It was established in 1972, based on atomic clocks, and was the successor of astronomical time, which is based on the Earth’s rotation. But since the atomic time scale drifts from the astronomical one, 1-second steps were added whenever necessary. In 1972 everybody was happy with this decision. Today, most systems we use for telecommunications are not really happy with these “leap” seconds. So in January member states of the International Telecommunications Union will vote on dropping the leap second.
How are leap seconds added? Sounds tricky
You need to force your clock to accept one more second in a minute. When the clock beats the 59th second, it is stopped for 1 second. That means that the clock says 58, 59, 59 and then it passes to the first second of the next minute.
What’s the problem with leap seconds? Have there been any disasters as a result of them?
No, but this doesn’t mean we should not care. For example, it is vital for global navigation satellite systems such as GPS to have a continuous time scale, not UTC with its leap seconds. That means there is a 15-second difference between UTC and the time GPS uses. Someone who is unaware of this could make a tragic mistake in some applications—when landing an aircraft, for instance. This could happen. And a 1-second difference in the communication between stock exchanges could provoke a gain or loss of millions of dollars.
We are using a system that breaks time. The quality of time is continuity. This is why a majority in the international community want to change the definition of UTC and drop the leap second.
Story Compliments Of NewScientist / Slate.com
