We May Finally Know Why Earth’s Magnetic North Keeps Moving

Magnetic north keeps shifting, but we may finally know what’s causing it.
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The Earth's magnetic north pole is shifting in two ways: It’s moving away from Canada and toward Siberia, and it is accelerating. In fact, it is accelerating so fast that we have had to update our models of Earth’s magnetic field ahead of schedule.

The reasoning behind why our magnetic poles move and flip has always been a mystery, until now.

A team of researchers from Leeds University think they have nailed down just what makes Earth's magnetic poles move: blobs.

The team from Leeds used 20 years of data collected by satellites, including ESA’s Swarm, and concluded that changes in flow at lower latitudes in Earth’s outer core have changed the magnetic flux, or the number of field lines, in two blobby areas.

Find out more about these blobs of magnetic flux in this Elements.

#earth #magneticfield #northpole #science #seeker #elements
Read More:
Recent north magnetic pole acceleration towards Siberia caused by flux lobe elongation
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-020-0570-9
"The wandering of Earth’s north magnetic pole, the location where the magnetic field points vertically downwards, has long been a topic of scientific fascination."

Magnetic north and the elongating blob
https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Swarm/Magnetic_north_and_the_elongating_blob
"For some years now, scientists have been puzzling over why the north magnetic pole has been making a dash towards Siberia."

Scientists explain magnetic pole's wanderings
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-52550973
"European scientists think they can now describe with confidence what's driving the drift of the North Magnetic Pole."
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