New research by Geophysics researchers in Vienna and Zurich suggests that Earth’s spin has been slowing down at a rapid rate, not seen in millions of years. The researchers used global sea level variations since the Late Pliocene to provide the broadest estimate yet on the changing rate of Earth's rotation. From 2000 to 2020, they found that our days have gotten longer by roughly 1.33 milliseconds per century, the most rapidly this time since the time of gigantic mastodons and saber-toothed cats. This rapid increase in day length indicates that modern climate change has been unprecedented at least since the late Pliolithic, 3.6 million years ago. The study's coauthor, Benedikt Soja, compared the phenomenon to a figure skater who spins more slowly once they extend their arms and sea levels so quickly as in 2000 to 2000. The research was published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth.