Clock ticking for leap second: Why timekeeping could change forever
Global timekeepers are meeting to discuss the potential discontinuation of the 'leap second,' which is currently used to synchronize atomic clocks with the Earth's rotation. The change is being considered due to the technical complications it creates for modern financial and data systems.
Why it matters
The potential removal of the leap second would represent a significant shift in how humanity measures time, impacting global digital infrastructure and precision technology.
Timekeepers add a leap second occasionally to keep our clocks and the Earth’s rotation in tune. That could now change.
x whatsapp-stroke copylink google Add Al Jazeera on Google info (Al Jazeera) By Priyanka Shankar Published On 15 Oct 2026 15 Oct 2026 The world’s timekeepers are meeting on Thursday near Paris to decide whether to scrap the “leap second”, which could disconnect the clocks we use from the Earth’s rotation and realign timescales.
The world’s clocks are designed on the idea that the Earth completes one rotation on its axis in exactly 24 hours. But it actually wobbles, making the time the Earth takes to rotate less exact. And over time, the Earth’s rotation is gradually slowing.
To compensate for that, since 1972, timekeepers have added a leap second every few years – the last one was added in 2016 – to keep clocks and Earth’s rotation in synchronisation.
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