For many years, Great Britain was a satisfied member of the European Union, but political unrest resulted in a national referendum to leave the EU. The end result was that 52% of Britain’s population was in favor of exiting the EU. According to EU treaty terms, the UK government will start the formal withdrawal process in March of this year and be completely withdrawn by 2019. This so-called “Brexit” will greatly disrupt international trade and economics.

Hard Brexit Strategy Has Concerning Financial Implications

As soon as the results of the Brexit referendum were revealed, people began worrying about how it would effect the British economy. Without the free travel between EU nations and the many trade deals in place, Britain could end up in a very bad situation. Attempts to alleviate these concerns suggested that the Brexit might not end up changing the nation’s relationship with the EU much, but this appears to be unlikely.

In her opening speech at a conference, British Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed her plans for leaving the European Union. She stated,

We are not leaving the European Union only to give up control of immigration again. And we are not leaving only to return to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.

Many are referring to this stance as a “hard” Brexit that will completely sever ties with the EU instead of retaining the nations’ close relationship.

Most of these financial issues will occur in London, where citizens overwhelmingly voted to remain the EU. This city does a lot of international business, particularly in its clearing houses. Each day, almost 440 billion euros are cleared through London, but many places are talking about moving clearing operations to New York and other European areas.

Major banks will also be affected because they were only able to operate in London through an EU license. Many London banks already have contingency plans in place to move their business elsewhere. For example, the main British bank, HSBC, has already said they will move their operations to pre-existing branches in the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

Major financial centers will not be the only way that Brexit affects the economy. Trade between EU members is encouraged, so most nations within the EU have very favorable tariff levels. If tariffs for Britain rise sharply, it might become difficult for the country to import and export items with its closest neighbors.

A major part of the reason for leaving the EU was due to concerns of refugee immigration, but this will also result in other immigration changes that could harm the economy. Property values in London are already dropping because many people who lived in London were actually EU members without British citizenship. Deals between Britain and other EU nations, such as the Nissan plans to create a factory in Sunderland, are also starting to falter.

Due to all the financial implications of Brexit, politicians, especially those in London, are calling for a longer transition period. Financial experts believe that at least three to five years would be necessary to exit from the EU without causing financial problems.

An Uncertain Future for European Finance

Brexit can cause disruptions on a global scale by interfering with finances and trade. All of the potential issues with leaving the EU have combined to create a state of worry and uncertainty in Europe. This further contributes to lowered stock values and economic depression, so the European market may end up having difficulties even if the direct consequences of Britain leaving the EU are not as bad as predicted. Overall, this climate of skepticism surely doesn’t help any economic initiative.

Image source: flickr.com/photos/bankenverband/28246711066/

The force of ocean waves usually pulls the Earth in the opposite direction, causing it to move slower.

Time might seem like a rigid and clearly defined concept, but the way we measure time actually has many variations. Everyone knows about the leap day that is added to the calendar every four years to keep the months in line with the seasons. It turns out that even more minor adjustments are needed to keep measured time accurate. On December 31, a leap second was added to clocks worldwide for a surprising reason.

Movement of Ocean Waves Is Strong Enough to Disturb Time

Since the concept was first introduced in the 1970s, there have been 27 leap seconds. The most recent happened at precisely 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 60 seconds Coordinated Universal Time on December 31. The reason behind leap seconds is a complicated mixture of solar system movements, atom vibrations, and ocean waves.

Time used to be measured based on astronomy, so a year was just one revolution around the sun. This is generally calculated as 365 days, but it is actually 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 45 seconds. Calculating time by astronomy required the addition of leap days, but it still was not precise enough for the electronics and scientific equipment of modern time.

In 1967, the General Conference on Weights and Measures decided to start defining a second by the actions of an atom. A second is officially defined as the vibration of the cesium atom, and it is measured by atomic clocks. The cesium standard is currently considered the most accurate form of time measurement, but it runs into some issues.

The problem with time is that the Earth does not rotate at the same speed every day. The massive amount of tides in the ocean flows in a manner that makes rotation slow down ever so slightly. Each day, the world slows down by roughly two milliseconds, so rotation moves at an ever so slightly slower speed than atomic clocks.

Two milliseconds may not seem like much, but this can add up over time. The precise rate of rotation deceleration changes because human activity can slightly alter tidal movements. Normally, a leap second should be added to the clock every 500 days or so to keep the atomic clocks in time with the earth’s rotational speed.

To avoid confusion, the leap year must be added at the same exact time by timekeepers everywhere. The International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service announces a time for each leap second, which generally occurs on either December 31 or January 1 of a given year. It is easy enough to change a clock like the one at the U.S. Naval Observatory’s Master Clock Facility.

The main difficulty comes from international technological services. For example, Google has multiple applications that all have data stored in different places and require precise communication with each other. Adding a single second at one time could throw things out of coordination, so Google smears that time over 20 hours.

To prevent any issues, Google and other main technological companies have application programming interfaces designed to gradually change the time. During the transition period for the leap second, server clock across the world will run about 13.9 microseconds slower than usual.

The Next Leap Second

Because they happen so quickly, leap seconds are not even noticed by the average person. However, they do make a difference for electronics that require very precise timing. These minor alterations to time ensure that we will not end up facing uncoordinated time in the following centuries. The next leap second has not been announced yet, but you may get to enjoy an extra second sometime in the next few years.

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A more aggressive approach to climate change is needed in 2017 or else the planet will suffer even more.

Temperature data from 2016 shows that it was once again the hottest year on record. Many nations are starting to listen to warnings and realize that they need to save the planet. After successfully being ratified by 120 countries, the Paris Agreement to regulate greenhouse gasses went into effect on November 4. The huge focus on climate change during 2016 has lead many to name this year as the turning point for climate change.

Climate Change Becomes a Serious Matter in 2016

After decades of vague warnings about climate change, it seems that this issue is actually happening. Climate change is the broad concern that human activity is changing the planet’s climate for the worse. Global warming is already occurring, and if left unchecked, it could lead to mass flooding and entire habitats being destroyed.

A lot of global warming seems to be caused by greenhouse gasses that prevent excess heat from rising into space. For the last three years, each year has been the hottest year in recorded history. The month of July was the hottest month on record as scorching temperatures soared far above any past recorded average.

The effects of all this global warming have been seen throughout the world. The Arctic had record low amounts of ice because of warmer ocean water throughout the world, and the melting ice caused ocean levels to rise throughout the world. Ice actually cleared enough that there was an ice free passageway from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean that was used by cruise ships.

The chilly polar caps were not the only place to see the effects of climate change. In the Caribbean and Great Barrier Reef, over 90 percent of coral populations have been decimated by warmer ocean waters that cause coral to turn white and die off. Researchers found that just a 1.5 degree Celsius increase in temperature will kill the few resilient coral colonies that are currently still alive.

It seems a little bizarre that something backed by so much data would be controversial, but in some nations, many still do not believe it actually exists. President-elect Donald Trump of the United States made headlines when he suggested climate change was a hoax perpetrated by China. In order to actually make a difference and reverse climate change, it will be necessary for many nations to work together and actually acknowledge the issue.

Fortunately, it does seem like many nations are beginning to take steps to halt climate change. All major airlines got together to strike a deal that will help to offset the vast amount of carbon emissions they release into the sky. Airlines will start funding renewable energy projects to create carbon offsets that will help to negate their damage to the atmosphere.

In a reassuring trend, more and more countries are switching to clean solar and wind energy that does not release greenhouse gasses. There has been a record high in investments towards renewable, clean energy projects. In the last year alone, $286 billion worth of funds were used to start up renewable energy projects.

The Future of the Planet

Now that people are actually starting to see the effects of climate change, some are beginning to realize just how dangerous it is. There are a few concerns that current regulations may be too late, and more drastic measures may be needed. Renewable energy and stricter emission regulations are a great start, but we cannot wait years to meet these goals. Prompt action will become necessary if we wish to start reducing global warming.

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