Timekeeping conference approves shift from leap seconds to hour corrections

Member states of the General Conference on Weights and Measures passed a resolution on 15 October to let discrepancies between atomic time and Earth's rotation accumulate until an hour needs correcting. Those discrepancies previously prompted one-second adjustments around once every 1.5 years. Leap seconds align UTC with time based on Earth's rotation, but organizations handle the added second differently, creating clock mismatches. Systems that depend on synchronized time, including telecommunications and electrical grids, have experienced disruptions. The resolution passed by majority rather than unanimous support.