The Moon Is Causing Days On Earth To Get Longer

New research has revealed that as the moon slowly spins farther away from the Earth, days on Earth are getting longer. Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison used a "new statistical method called astrochronology" to reconstruct Earth's geological history. They discovered that moon used to be much closer to Earth which caused the planet to spin much faster on its axis. The moon moves farther away from Earth by about one-and-half-inches every year. 

"As the moon moves away, the Earth is like a spinning figure skater who slows down as they stretch their arms out," study co-author Stephen Meyers, a professor of geoscience at UW-Madison, said in a statement.

The scientists examined rocks from the "1.4-billion-year-old Xiamaling Formation from northern China and a 55-million-year-old record from Walvis Ridge, in the southern Atlantic Ocean," and discovered that the length of an average day on Earth was just over 18 hours long 1.4-billion years ago. 

Photo: Getty Images