Big Ben Is Leaning; Time to Worry

As tempting as it is, I can't blame global warming for this one: Big Ben is leaning.

Yes, that venerable symbol of British power and precise time-keeping will, if not fixed in the relatively not-too-distant future, fall over. But that's 10,000 years from now, according to the people who do the measuring and the worrying.

It's not a lot, but 46 centimeters is still enough to have certain people worried. The clock tower is, after all, 96 meters (314 feet) tall. So presumably, the fall will be a gradual one and could be observed and measured, if not fixed. That would be certainly be something of a tourist attraction: "Come see Big Ben tip a fraction of a millimeter before your very eyes!" As it turns out, you can see the lean with your own eyes, if you look at it just right and clench your teeth at just the right tension. Why someone hasn't lined up the tourist option before is a bit of a mystery.

But the main concern to me is the effect on time that this leaning will undoubtedly have, if left to the devices of gravity. If Big Ben is leaning, it's quite possible that time is affected. 

Like many people, I depend on the clock inside Big Ben — the tower is the one with the name, by the way, and the clock is just the clock — to tell me the important things in life: what time it is, when to eat a snack, who will win the Olympic ice dancing. If this clock is leaning and left to keep leaning, then I fear for the clock's ability to tell us anything with certainty, especially the time. In these days of smartphones and leap-seconds, any time lost or misplaced is a big worry. Einstein it was that talked of bent space-time and relative time loss. Time is precious, especially when it's disappearing.