Are our GMT's in Danger???

[J. Alan]

I found this article in the local rag regarding the history and significance of the Greenwich Royal Observatory - the great mother of time known as GMT upon which the world time zones are based.

Although mostly about the history of the founding of the GRO, there is one paragraph that leaped from the article, quoted as follows:

"But for GMT itself, it's time for a change experts say. Atomic clocks are the ultimate arbiters of time these days. They coexist awkwardly with GMT, needing occasional adjustments in the form of "leap seconds". And so a group of scientists has proposed a fix: get rid of GMT as the world's timekeeping benchmark and just let the clocks run (Atomic clocks, I presume the author means). Their plan will be put to a vote in January by the International Telecommunication Union.

The response from U.K. officials has been negative - akin to horror. With a key piece of British heritage at stake, Science Minister David Willetts warned about dire consequences of making the change, due to the fact that the Earth's rotation is slowing: "Eventually our midnite would happen at noon."

If the proposed change is approved, the Paris - based International Bureau of Weights and Measures will become the new guardian of time."

OH, OH!!! Or should I say "C'est la vie!!"

J. Alan

[beshannon]

Removing GMT as a time standard has nothing to do with 24 time zones by hour for the earth's rotation.

[p-hunter]

In the US why do you have EST. Why don´t you also have WST and MST..(middle standard time)
Just a wonder cuz I get confused about US timezones.
So for me I hope they keep the GMT cuz from that I can know what time it is in different parts of your mother earth

[joe100]

There are 4 time zones in the lower 48 US states. Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific. Here in the US we use Daylight Savings Time so half the year it's Eastern Standard, or EST, CST, MST, and PST. When we're on DST it then Becomes EDT, CDT, MDT, ad PDT. for Eastern Daylight Time, Central Daylight, Mountain Daylight, Pacific Daylight.

Then you have Arizona which doesn't observe DST in the lower 48.

[p-hunter]

Thank you very much for this. Now I am clear about your timezones.

[beshannon]

Originally Posted by p-hunter

In the US why do you have EST. Why don´t you also have WST and MST..(middle standard time)
Just a wonder cuz I get confused about US timezones.
So for me I hope they keep the GMT cuz from that I can know what time it is in different parts of your mother earth

http://www.timeanddate.com/time/map/

[Xenophon]

I thought UTC replaced GMT 20 or so years ago, anyway. What does it matter ?

[jhupp]

Originally Posted by beshannon

Removing GMT as a time standard has nothing to do with 24 time zones by hour for the earth's rotation.

No but then Rolex may have to change the name of the watch!!

International Bureau of Weights and Measures Master just doesn't have the same ring to it as GMT Master.

[J. Alan]

Originally Posted by jhupp

No but then Rolex may have to change the name of the watch!!

International Bureau of Weights and Measures Master just doesn't have the same ring to it as GMT Master.

Yes, the new Rolex model - presenting the BWM, or if they would change the name of the order of the governing body to Bureau of Measures and Weights, the name would be - TA DA - BMW!!!

Hoopla!

J. Alan

[azguy]

If you are in Arizona, no DST, we need an extra hour of daylight like.....well you get the picture...

[Kringkily]

always funny to hear those that live in single time zone country and don't have to adjust

[AJMarcus]

Originally Posted by Xenophon

I thought UTC replaced GMT 20 or so years ago, anyway. What does it matter ?

You are correct. Hence the IWC UTC Pilot watch. And so it doesn't really matter.

[GradyPhilpott]

You didn't provide a link, but I haven't heard anything about getting rid of timezones and as long as there are timezones, there will be a Zulu time or GMT that can be used universally for the military, the airlines, and other globetrotting enterprises.

What is being proposed is the abolition of leap seconds and a redefinition of UTC which by international treaty must be within .9 seconds of UT1, an astronomical timescale.

I think it's crazy to shift time measurement toward the oscillations of a cesium atom solely, without regard to the earth's rotation.

The last leap second caused some problems with some software for some sites, but it's not like the leap second is something new and people who are smart enough to code should be smart enough to account for a leap second.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leap_se...h_leap_seconds

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coordinated_Universal_Time

There is a proposal to redefine UTC and abolish leap seconds, such that sundials would slowly get further out of sync with civil time.[43] The resulting gradual shift of the sun's movements relative to civil time is analogous to the shift of seasons relative to the yearly calendar that results from the calendar year not precisely matching the tropical year length. This would be a major practical change in civil timekeeping, but would take effect slowly over several centuries. ITU-R Study Group 7 and Working Party 7A were unable to reach consensus on whether to advance the proposal to the 2012 Radiocommunications Assembly; the chairman of Study Group 7 elected to advance the question to the 2012 Radiocommunications Assembly (20 January 2012)[44], but consideration of the proposal was postponed by the ITU until the World Radio Conference in 2015.[45]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coordin...al_Time#Future

[1000ft=300m]

And then you get the real obscure ones like Iran (C mod), Afghanistan (D mod) and Central Australia (I mod). I'm in the military and we use those same names, so you can ask someone what's the time in Zulu?

[77T]

Originally Posted by beshannon

Removing GMT as a time standard has nothing to do with 24 time zones by hour for the earth's rotation.

Originally Posted by beshannon

http://www.timeanddate.com/time/map/

Aren't there 25 timezones on this map? Every letter in the alphabet but for "J".

As for GMT, or UTC, there's really no reason for it to especially start where it does except for historical reasons. Because global networks and systems need to agree with the exact time. Heck if we had never changed with the times we'd still be using the Mayan long-count calendar...

Since atomic clocks are the current standard, we should just switch on December 22, 2012 - that is if we are all still here...(obscure calendar reference deleted)

[J. Alan]

As the article I refer to in my post was published in my local paper's travel section, the column was written for the traveler who desires a different experience when visiting England. The article was more about the history of GMT, but the paragraph about the proposed time change interested me.

I know there will still be time zones with nanosecond corrections required, but it struck me that if the proposed changes mentioned were to be approved at this future conference, the word GMT may become an acromyn.

It would certainly not go over to well in England, especially if the proposed centre is moved to France.

J. Alan