How an accelerating Earth led experts to adopt the leap hour
International delegates agree leap second no longer tenable, but first leap hour not likely to happen for thousands of years
TL;DR
- Delegates from 69 countries voted to replace the leap second with a leap hour.
- The change aims to reduce risks to computer systems that struggle with minutes lasting 61 or 59 seconds.
- A leap hour means UTC can drift up to an hour from astronomical time before adjustment.
- This drift is not expected to necessitate a leap hour for thousands of years.
- Past leap seconds have caused system failures, including crashes of Reddit and LinkedIn.
- The possibility of negative leap seconds, which could cause even greater risks, accelerated the decision.
- The UK and Russia had previously grumbled about the move due to links with GMT and satellite navigation systems, respectively.