Leap Seconds

Up until earlier this week, I had never heard of leap seconds.  When I did, it was in the headline of an article on the NYTimes website.  It came up because there has been debate for years as to whether to keep the leap second or get rid of it.  Obviously, the leap second is vitally important if there is this much discussion about it.  The decision was supposed to be made at an international telecommunications meeting in Geneva yesterday.  However, after much discussion, the decision was postponed for another three years until a panel of experts has time to review the implications of either removing or keeping the leap second.   I said "another three years" because the leap second has already been under review for 10 years.  That will make 13 years of study to determine whether or not the leap second should be kept or eradicated.  So what exactly is the leap second?  In an attempt to put this as simply as follows, a leap second is a second that is added to atomic clocks every four years to ensure that clocks stay in tune with the earth's rotation which is gradually slowing down.  What are the ramifications of this decision?  Well, if the leap second is removed from use, time will slowly slide earlier and earlier so that lunch time will eventually slide to mid morning and further as the earth's rotation slows.  If we keep the leap second this won't happen, but computers systems could get screwed up in the long run as these leap seconds get added on every four years or so. 

Personally, I say keep the leap second.  Computer systems are not as important as ensuring that our clocks stay in sync with the earth's rotation.  I don't want to be waking up as its getting dark and going to bed as its getting light (that wouldn't happen anyway because by the time lunchtime was at midnight, I would be long dead).  I guess the big issue I have with this is that resources are being wasted as people are paid to study the impacts of either keeping or removing the leap second.  I could understand it more if it took a year or two to make the decision, but at this point, no possible decision could be reached until at least 2015 as that is when this new panel of experts is due to finish their three year long study of the leap second.  It is extravagant wastes like these expert panels that take too long to figure something out that bother me.  The first stint of experts studying this leap second was ten years long, and they couldn't even reach a decision after that.  What makes them think that three more years will make a difference?  Perhaps this whole quagmire is in part due to the fact that this discussion and panel of experts is tied to the United Nations, known internationally for not really being able to make a timely decision.  Perhaps instead of focusing efforts on the leap second, we should put a little more effort into understanding our economic situation and seeing how we might be able to fix it for the future.  It won't matter a damn about leap seconds if economies don't recover and start growing again.

So yes, I am a little cynical this morning, but when I hear about money being wasted on topics that have no relevant bearing on the lives of millions, it irks me.  Don't get me wrong, I am sure that this decision will be considered vitally important perhaps a hundred thousand years from now when the earth's slowing rotation actually makes a difference, but now, not so much.  Even to me, the decision seems pretty cut and dry.  Keep the leap second and ensure that we will not one day be eating lunch at midnight.  As it stands, the panel of experts has been dispatched for another three years and we won't have to hear about the leap second till then.  I sure hope that they can reach a decision on this leap second after thirteen years of study.  I know that I will be waiting with baited breath in 2015 for their announcement.  (Ha, not likely!)  But seriously, lets focus resources where they are needed, like helping the homeless or feeding the hungry.  The money would go a lot further if put to these uses and could actually make a difference on a larger scale.  But then this panel of experts wouldn't be getting paid as much as they are to make this momentous decision, so I don't know.  Just wait, the next leap second will be added this year at the end of June and I am sure that we will all notice the difference.  Hold on, we are in for a wild ride!