| It's Spring! It's the earliest spring of your life. Spring, marked by the vernal equinox, began on March 19, 2020 in all US time zones. Spring is earlier than it has been in 124 years (since 1896). It'll even get earlier in a few years. This earlier-than-usual spring has everything to do with time. Atomic clocks divide each second into 9,192,631,770 parts, and the super-accurate time is then transmitted to anyone with an "atomic wall clock" or GPS or even a smart phone. The calendar is nearly as perfect. Even before this record-breaking equinox and earliest-ever-spring, this year offered us a February 29, with consequences that affect everyone. Years divisible by four are leap years, like this one, 2020. But if a year is divisible by 100, it SKIPS a leap year, so in 1700, 1800, and 1900 there was no February 29. Equinox and solstices happen earlier and earlier as each century wears on. Our calendar system further decrees that while most century years skip February 29, if the year is divisible by 400, it will be a leap year anyway. So 2000 was a leap year. The consequences of that little move are what's affecting us now. Because 2000 had a leap day instead of omitting it, thanks to that once-every-four-century-tweak, ensuing equinoxes were prevented from returning to the 21st, and solstices and equinoxes instead continued to creep earlier. The equinox slipped from the 21st to the 20th, where it's been for many years now, and it's still creeping earlier. Now, finally, it's reached the point where the equinox happens on the 19th for US time zones. Every four years from now on-on every coming leap year like 2024, 2028, 2032, and so on-there will be a brand new "record earliest" start to spring. Enjoy Spring and check out these titles |
