The Magnetic North Pole is Shifting Fast – Is This the First Sign of an Impending Pole Reversal?
After some 400 years of relative stability, Earth's North Magnetic Pole has moved nearly 1100 kilometers out into the Arctic Ocean during the last century and at its present rate could move from northern Canada to Siberia within the next half century. Scientists have determined that Earth's magnetic field has flipped its polarity many times over the millennia -- Reversals are the rule, not the exception. Earth has settled into a pattern of a pole reversal about every 200,000 to 300,000 years, although it has been more than twice that long since the last reversal. The last time that Earth's poles flipped in a major reversal was about 780,000 years ago. Does the unexpectedly fast rate of movement in the North Magnetic Pole signal the beginnings of an impending reversal?
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Thanks for your comment -- You have made a very good point.
NOAA's direct quote is: "This performance degradation is caused by fast-changing core flows in the North Polar region of the Earth’s outer core.”
NOAA is specifically attributing the shifting North Magnetic Pole to the "fast-changing core flows... of the Earth’s outer core." This statement is being presented by NOAA as a fact, not an opinion or conjecture.
If that is so, then the next logical question is: What other consequences could be resulting from the fast-changing core flows? For example, if the thickness of the Earth's crust under the polar regions is becoming slightly thinner due to the changing flows, could this cause a slight temperature increase on the surface of the polar regions?
You have made a very insightful observation.
Thanks,
Guy Pirro
Furthermore, when one looks at a geologic time scale, Earth's CO2 levels are currently at the LOW end of historical norms. At the beginning of the last ice age, for example, CO2 levels were at least twice as high as they are today. Seemingly unknown to most journalists, CO2 is a naturally occurring gas on our planet which is the one gas essential to life on our planet. Currently CO2 comprises about .04% of the Earths atmosphere. If it went to 0, life on Earth would be over. In fact, by the time you get down to .035%, some plant life begins to suffer. Those who think that humans can and should control CO2 levels have yet to tell us what level they think we should target, and why.
I misspoke here. I should have proof read myself better. First day of Meteorology 101 is that the Ground heats the Air.
The different rates of heating and cooling across the Earth's surface is what drives our weather.