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Geomagnetic Reversal underway?
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Home › Forums › Campfire › The Natural World › Geomagnetic Reversal underway?
- This topic has 3 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 5 years, 2 months ago by Erica R.
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Feb 7, 2019 at 7:07 pm #3577376
Before you trust your compass for critical navigation, be sure to check the current declination for the maps in your area!
The somewhat overdue Geomagnetic Reversal (periodic flip of the Earth’s magnetic poles) seems to be fully underway.
Feb 7, 2019 at 7:14 pm #3577377Also discussed on BPL here.
Feb 8, 2019 at 6:57 am #3577443From NOAA:
Is Earth’s magnetic field going to reverse?
While we now appear to be in a period of declining magnetic field strength, we cannot state for certain if or when a magnetic reversal will occur.
Based on measurements of the Earth’s magnetic field taken since about 1850 some paleomagnetists estimate that the dipole moment will decay in about 1,300 years. However, the present dipole moment (a measure of how strong the magnetic field is) is actually higher than it has been for most of the last 50,000 years and the current decline could reverse at any time. Even if Earth’s magnetic field is beginning a reversal, it would still take several thousand years to complete a reversal. We expect Earth would still have a magnetic field during a reversal, but it would be weaker than normal with multiple magnetic poles. Radio communication would deteriorate, navigation by magnetic compass would be difficult and migratory animals might have problems.
https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag/faqgeom.shtml#Is_Earths_magnetic_field_going_to_reverse
Also, the Earth’s magnetic field is pretty messy. For example, here’s the updated 2019 compass declination map of the world.
https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag/WMM/DoDWMM.shtml
— Rex
Feb 8, 2019 at 11:15 am #3577450Looks like there are 2 magnetic poles in antarctica:Â Â https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7LqqvTmnVM
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