---
title: "Scientists: Earth’s Magnetic Field Could Shift 100x Faster Than Observed"
description: "New models suggest that Earth's magnetic field, already overdue for a total reversal, could shift faster than we thought."
date: "2020-07-13"
modified: "2020-07-13"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/earths-magnetic-field-shifting"
categories:
  - "Science & Energy"
tags:
  - "geology"
  - "magnetic field"
  - "polarity"
  - "the digest"
---

# Scientists: Earth’s Magnetic Field Could Shift 100x Faster Than Observed

![New models suggest that Earth's magnetic field, already overdue for a total reversal, could shift faster than we thought.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/models-earths-magnetic-field-shifting-faster.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center\</em\>*

## Global Reversal

Scientists have long suspected that the Earth's [magnetic field might flip](<https://futurism.com/earths-magnetic-poles-overdue-switch>) — switching the magnetic North and South poles — in the nearish future.

But a new study suggests that the change could happen far more rapidly than researchers thought, *[Space.com ](<https://www.space.com/magnetic-field-changes-faster-10x.html>)*[reports](<https://www.space.com/magnetic-field-changes-faster-10x.html>). The simulations, [published last week](<https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-16888-0>) in the journal *Nature Communications*, predict that the magnetic field could rotate around the planet by as much as ten degrees per year — ten times faster than anything previously theorized, 100 times faster than anything scientists actually observed, and a rate that could result in a complete reversal in less than two decades.

## Turbulent Field

The problem with predicting the future of [Earth's magnetic field](<https://futurism.com/earths-magnetic-field-doing-something-strange>), which last flipped polarities about 780,000 years ago, is that it's a gigantic, turbulent mess. The field itself is generated by electric currents stirred up by the molten metals swirling under the Earth's surface, *Space.com* reports. Those factors influence one another, creating an unevenly-distributed field that fluctuates wildly.

"The flow is turbulent — in a simple sense, it could be like the flow in a pan of boiling water," lead author and University of Leeds researcher Christopher Davies told *Space.com*. "So the interaction between flow and field is different from place to place within the core."

## Weak Spot

That turbulence, which creates weak and strong spots in the field, can spur rapid shifts, the study found. While previous models suggested a total flip would take several hundred to 1,000 years, those weak spots could vastly speed up the process.

Thankfully, that won't be as devastating as it sounds, *[National Geographic ](<https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/01/earth-magnetic-field-flip-north-south-poles-science/>)*[reports](<https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/01/earth-magnetic-field-flip-north-south-poles-science/>). The polarity reversal will impact satellites and electrical grids, but us humans won't feel a thing.

**READ MORE:** [Earth's magnetic field changes 10 times faster than once thought](<https://www.space.com/magnetic-field-changes-faster-10x.html>) \[*Space.com*\]

**More on the magnetic field:** *[The Earth’s Magnetic Poles Are Overdue for a Switch](<https://futurism.com/earths-magnetic-poles-overdue-switch>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)