"winston19842005" <bjjlyates@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> "Judson McClendon" <judmc@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>>
>> It is unlikely that the Gregorian Calendar will remain unchanged past
year
>> 4000 or so, because of ***ulative divergence from the solar year, and
by
>> year 4000 it will be whole day off. There have already been attempts to
>> correct the divergence by changing the leap year rule. The current rule
is
>> "If year is MOD 4 then it's a leap year, unless it's MOD 100 then it
isn't,
>> unless it's MOD 400 then it is." The new rule would add "unless it's
MOD
>> 4000 then it isn't."
>
> Perhaps by then we will correct the REAL problem, by correcting the
speed of
> this planet's orbit?
>
> Would it be preferable to make it exactly 365 days? Or maybe, let's make
it
> 100 - easier to figure...
It's not just that the year is longer than 365.2425 days, it's that the
year is
gradually getting longer from gravitational effects like tidal friction
and
orbital perturbations from Jupiter. Assuming technology to set the Earth's
orbit at exactly 365 days, it would still have to be periodically
adjusted.
Setting the orbit at 100 days would require an orbit too near the sun (we
would roast) or lengthening the day to 87.6 hours. Neither sounds very
desirable, just to have an even length of year. :-) Most of the .7C
increase
in global temperatures claimed over the last century is now known to be
due to a very slight increase in solar radiation during the first half of
that
period. Can you imagine the drastic effects from moving the Earth closer
to the sun? :-)
The rotation of the Earth is also slowing. Have you noticed how many
leap seconds have been added in recent years? This will increase over
time. Most of this is due to tidal friction from the Moon and Sun.
--
Judson McClendon judmc@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
(remove zero)
Sun Valley Systems http://sunvaley.com
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
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