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A geomagnetic reversal is a change in a planet's dipole magnetic field such that the positions of magnetic north and magnetic south are interchanged (not to be confused with geographic north and geographic south).
The historical movement of these poles indicates a change in the global geometry of the Earth's magnetic field. It may even indicate the beginning of a field reversal – a "flip" between the north and south magnetic poles.
Every so often, Earth's magnetic poles completely flip. What causes this to happen? And how do these reversals affect life on Earth?
When the poles flip, scientists call it a geomagnetic reversal, and the last one happened about 780,000 years ago. It takes between 2,000 and 7,000 years for the poles to reverse. The...
When north goes south: Is Earth’s magnetic field flipping? It's been 780,000 years since this happened — and some scientists say that Earth's magnetic poles are long overdue for a switch.
Paleomagnetic records tell us Earth’s magnetic poles have reversed 183 times in the last 83 million years, and at least several hundred times in the past 160 million years. The time intervals between reversals have fluctuated widely, but average about 300,000 years, with the last one taking place about 780,000 years ago.
From time to time, the Earth's magnetic poles flip, leaving us without a protective magnetic field for up to centuries at a time. What causes Earth’s magnetic field? Magnetic fields are generated by electric charges in motion. In a bar magnet, the moving charges are electrons orbiting in atoms.