The International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS) based in Paris, is responsible for keeping track of the gap between atomic and planetary time and issuing international edicts on the addition of leap seconds.
In recent years, a leap second has been added every few years, slightly more infrequent than in the 1970s, despite the long-term slowdown in the Earth's rotation caused by tides, earthquakes and a host of other natural phenomena.
full text: guardian.co.uk
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