If 2020 left your head spinning, 2021 will have the Earth spinning faster than ever.
The faster rotation means each 24-hour day is actually a little bit shorter than usual.
The world's timekeepers are now debating the need for a "negative leap second."
While the negative leap second is new, 27 leap seconds have been added to the clock in the last 50 years to keep atomic time in sync with solar time.
According to the Daily Mail: "On 19 July 2020, the day was 1.4602 milliseconds shorter than the full 24 hours - the shortest day since records began. "
A 2015 study published in "Science Advances" suggests global warming may be the reason behind the Earth’s speedier rotation. As glaciers melt, mass redistribution is causing the planet to shift and spin faster on its axis.
Changing the clock even a second can cause big problems with lots of big web companies. In 2012, adding a leap second disrupted operations at sites like Reddit and LinkedIn.
A decision about the negative leap second hasn't been made yet. If clocks are moved back, it would happen at the end of June or the end of December.
Image courtesy Getty