MACON, Ga. — Saturday is a special day: Leap Day! It comes around every 4 years and always gets a lot of attention. Have you ever wondered what would happen if we didn't have leap years? It turns out, there would be some pretty significant changes.
The world follows the Gregorian calendar which has 356 days. However, the world takes slightly longer to complete one trip around the sun at 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 45 seconds. With a 365-day calendar, there is essentially a gap in Earth's orbit that it has not yet passed through quite yet. Every 4 years, a day is added to correct for this gap.
Without this correction, we would lose 6 hours per year. Seasons would start a little bit later each year. You may not notice it at first, but after 100 years, Earth would be 24 days behind schedule. Seasons would get a late start.
After 750 years, the Earth would have completed a 180-degree flip of its seasons. Central Georgia would experience its coldest time of the year in June and July, as opposed to December and January. Imagine snow in June!
Leap day isn't the only correction to the calendar. Every few years, a leap second may be added. This extra second may occur on June 30th or December 31st every 2 to 3 years. These seconds are added for the same reason as above, just on a much smaller scale.
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