One day in the next couple of years, everyone in the world will lose a second of their time. Exactly when that will happen is being influenced by humans, according to a new study, as melting polar ice alters the Earth's rotation and changes time itself.

The hours and minutes that dictate our days are determined by Earth's rotation. But that rotation is not constant; it can change ever so slightly, depending on what's happening on Earth's surface and in its molten core.

These nearly imperceptible changes occasionally mean the world's clocks need to be adjusted by a "leap second," which may sound tiny but can have a big impact on computing systems.

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