Japan quake causes day to get a wee bit shorter

An earthquake can also lengthen a day. In the long run the effects of quakes cancel each other out. The long term slowing of the earth due to tidal locking (with the moon) is still the dominant effect. NASA stated 2.3 milliseconds per century, though I've seen other sources at 1.4 ms.

So after about 500,000 years our day will be a second shorter?

If the tidal deceleration lengthened the day by 2 ms/day per century, a billion years would find the day about 5 1/2 hrs longer. I'd bet the effect of the moon was more pronounced earlier in earth's history because it was so much closer.
2*(10^-3)*(10^9/100)/60/60 = 5.556 hrs., implying that the day was really short 4 billion yrs. ago, assuming that the oceans were in place to contribute tidal friction.

If the tidal deceleration lengthened the day by 2 ms/day per century, a billion years would find the day about 5 1/2 hrs longer. I'd bet the effect of the moon was more pronounced earlier in earth's history because it was so much closer.
2*(10^-3)*(10^9/100)/60/60 = 5.556 hrs., implying that the day was really short 4 billion yrs. ago, assuming that the oceans were in place to contribute tidal friction.

Many creationists have done that calculation unsuccessfully in an attempt to show that billions of years ago the Earth would have been spinning so fast that animals would have been practically thrown around. Your number seems reasonable, good job.

"BBCs Hawksley implicitly suggests that man-made climate change also contributed to the Japanese earthquake."
http://www.sovere...?p=15770

Global warming did it.

From what I've read, when the earth first formed the day was 8 hours long, then the collision that formed the moon shortened that to 5 hours. But the moon was 200 times larger from the earth's perspective, and its gravitational pull supposedly cause the hot new crust of the earth to rise by about a mile when the moon was directly overhead. Of course this affect rapidly decreased as the moon grew in distance from the earth, at a gradually slower rate over because of the reduced tidal interactions at the gradually increasing distances.

At that rate, by the time anything started crawling on the earth, the earth was likely already past the 20 hour day mark.

"BBCs Hawksley implicitly suggests that man-made climate change also contributed to the Japanese earthquake."
http://www.sovere...?p=15770

Global warming did it.

Well that's a lie.

how come no-one is blaming it on the particle accelerator?
Global warming is such a crock! But consider this, the weight of all that water coming inland could be enough to set the next tremor off.
Since Japan is dislocated from it's previous position what is now under pressure? (there were five in the bed and the little one said roll over....)

"BBCs Hawksley implicitly suggests that man-made climate change also contributed to the Japanese earthquake."
http://www.sovere...?p=15770

Global warming did it.

Well that's a lie.

Those are the people, AGWites, so many here support and defend.

I always rely on that extra millisecond of sleep! ;)

Well if global warming caused it, then it was Bush's fault.

Well that's a lie.

Those are the people, AGWites, so many here support and defend.

Again Mr. Swenson, reading skills are important.

Your source is lying.