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This might not be an immediate problem to add to our basket of terrors, but research suggests that the moon is drifting away from Earth at a steady pace of about 3.82 centimetres per year.

Although this crawl is still faster than the pace at which our economy is growing, scientists believe that if we manage to stick around for another hundred years, our days will have 25 hours, instead of 24.

Speaking about the findings, co-author of the study, Professor Stephen Meyers of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said:

“As the moon moves away, the Earth is like a spinning figure skater who slows down as they stretch their arms out.”

As well as hypothesising on how long they believe a day to be in the distant future, scientists have also come to a conclusion regarding how long an Earth day was 1.4 billion years ago.

The study suggests that waaayyy back in the day, Earth had 18-hour days. This is because the moon was once much closer to the planet and had a greater influence on the way it spun on its axis. To uncover this information, the researchers have been using astrochronology – a method that links astronomical theory with geological observation.