How LONG Is A YEAR?

摘要

The year is a surprisingly controversial unit. The International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) does not include the year in the official list of "Non-SI units accepted for use with the International System of Units," in spite of its own use of that unit in the SI Brochure, which points out that "delegates from all Member States of the Meter Convention attend the General Conference which, at present, meets every four years." Similarly, the European Union was set to ban the use of the year last year (no pun intended), had its proposed prohibition on "supplementary units" not been eliminated. (The same is true of the month and week).