On Thu 2005/08/04 19:44:04 MST, Scott Moore wrote
in a message to: LEAPSECS_at_ROM.USNO.NAVY.MIL
>for the next 100 years or so without appreciable variation. It would even
>allow the computer to calculate what the leap seconds are, if they would
>(apparently) stop messing with the system and leave it as a standard rule
>based system. Without a table at all.
Although we have a reasonable idea of long-term trends, the problem is
that noone can predict exactly what the Earth will do. The current
anomalous speedup in its rotation is thought to be caused by upwelling
of magma in the mantle with consequent change in the Earth's moment of
inertia: not predictable.
The Boxing day tsunami introduced a time glitch: not predictable.
http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/enviro/EnviroRepublish_1299077.htm
Melting of the polar ice caps and rising sea levels will change the
Earth's moment of inertia: not predictable.
Interior geophysics, crustal dynamics, earthquakes, tsunamis, El nino,
global warming, etc. all could potentially cause irregularities: not
predictable, not now nor in the foreseeable future.
Mark Calabretta
ATNF
Received on Thu Aug 04 2005 - 21:18:54 PDT