The Leap Second Is No More
The International Bureau of Weights and Measurements has announced that the leap second will be discontinued starting in May 2027. This change aims to simplify timekeeping for global digital infrastructure and prevent potential errors in synchronized systems.
Why it matters
Removing the leap second is a major technical adjustment that affects how global computer networks, APIs, and databases manage time-sensitive data.
Leap seconds have driven a raging debate in the metrological community for three decades. Now, that argument has been put to rest: The leap second is officially dead.
Doing away with an obscure metric the average person has been blissfully unaware of may seem like a novelty, but killing the leap second has major ramifications for technology you rely on every day. It also helps stave off what could’ve been a dangerous moment in time: The possibility of the world’s first negative leap second.
The International Bureau of Weights and Measurements (known by its French acronym BIPM) on Thursday said that in May 2027, it would stop issuing leap seconds to adjust what’s known as Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), 32 of which have been added since 1972.
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