World

Clocks to be set back on New Year's Eve -- by one second

by mike_yvr | December 28, 2008 at 08:47 pm

448 views | 39 Recommendations | 2 comments

If you're sitting at your desk this week wondering if the work day will ever end, it's not all in your head.

More on this story from December 30

Our days are getting longer. That's because the earth is rotating more slowly around its axis.

But don't get too excited about having a lot of extra time on your hands. It only works out to about a second a year. And on New Year's Eve, the world's official clocks will be set back by a second -- at exactly one second before midnight.

So don't forget to count down the New Year correctly this Wednesday evening!

Ten, nine, eight,seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, one.

Happy new year!

Those eager to put 2008 behind them will have to hold their good-byes for just a moment this New Year's Eve.

The world's official timekeepers have added a "leap second" to the last day of the year on Wednesday, to help match clocks to the Earth's slowing spin on its axis, which takes place at ever-changing rates affected by tides and other factors.

The U.S. Naval Observatory, keeper of the Pentagon's master clock, said it would add the extra second on Wednesday in coordination with the world's atomic clocks at 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds Coordinated Universal Time, or UTC.