Position and Strength of Earth’s Geomagnetic Field Is Plummeting over 160 Years

Earth’s geomagnetic field which shields its atmosphere from charged particles like photons is weakening over the years and might be fluctuating too, warns a team of scientists from the Department of Earth and Environmental Science.

Our Mother Planet is blanketed by a geomagnetic field which has spread out from earth’s interior towards space. It is the protector of the earth as it defends the solar winds – a torrent of charged particles originated from the Sun and protects the atmosphere of earth from getting destroyed by the harmful particles. The scale of the magnetic field at the Earth’s surface ranges from 0.25 to 0.65 gauss (25 to 65 microteslas) and skews at a position of nearly 10 degrees relating to the rotational axis of Earth. Without this magnetic meadow, the atmosphere of earth might have completely speckled by the harmful radiations of sun and life on earth would almost surely have no existence on the planet.

But over the year, the shape of geomagnetic field has been altering and now the North geomagnetic pole, located near the Greenland in the northern hemisphere has become the south pole of the Earth’s magnetic field, and vice-versa.  According to the scientists, contrasting a bar magnet, the geomagnetic field of Earth is changing over time because it is produced by a geodynamo – the movement of molten iron alloys in the external core of the planet.

According to the fresh report, since the last 160 years, the magnetic field of the earth has been plummeting in a region called the South Atlantic Anomaly. Over the years, it is pulling out from southern Africa towards Chile. As expected by the scientists, “Such continual alterations in earth’s magnetic field might impinge on the transmission of electrical energy as well as the navigation systems of the planet. The sight of the northern lights possibly will emerge at unusual latitudes, and because more radiation will find their ways to Earth’s atmosphere, its surface might lose its strength during a global U-turn.

However, up to date, scientists are unable to find the exact impacts of these changes on earth. Scientists are yet uncertain if the Earth’s magnetic field is turning around or simply shifting, The Complete details of the study are published in the online edition of Newsweek and The Conversation.