Downtown Temple’s clock on Central Avenue at City Hall will need a slight adjustment when the world’s timekeepers make 2008 a second longer by adding a leap second to the last day of the year. The reason is that Earth is slowing down, requiring timekeepers to add that extra second to their atomic clocks to keep in sync. The second will be tacked on to Dec. 31 after 6:59:59 p.m. and before 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. This makes 2008 the longest year since 1992. Most cellular phone providers and computer operating systems check with the world’s atomic clocks and update their time to add the leap second automatically. The world started adding leap seconds in 1972, sometimes twice a year. This is the first since Dec. 31, 2005. This is the fourth year to have a leap day and a leap second. (Clint Bittenbinder/Telegram)