A new study by a team from Sweden's Lund University confirmed that the Earth's magnetic poles are unlikely to flip in the near future.

This study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences "PNAS", comes due to the emergence of a mysterious region in the South Atlantic Ocean, in which the strength of the Earth's magnetic field is decreasing more rapidly, leading to speculation that the Earth may be heading towards a magnetic polarity reversal.

A mysterious region in the South Atlantic Ocean where the strength of the Earth's magnetic field is decreasing most rapidly (Wikimedia Commons)

The current changes are not new

According to a Lund University statement issued on June 7, the new study collected evidence dating back 9,000 years, indicating that the current changes are not unique, and that this region located in the South Atlantic Ocean off the coast of South America is characterized by With a weak magnetic field, and where satellites have been disrupted several times by exposure to highly charged particles from the sun, the area has become known as the South Atlantic Anomaly.

According to the university's statement, the Earth's magnetic field acts as an invisible shield against the space environment that threatens life on Earth, and against the solar wind that would sweep the atmosphere.

This magnetic field is unstable, as the reversal of the magnetic poles occurs at irregular intervals, averaging 200,000 years.

According to the statement, over the past 180 years, the strength of this Earth's magnetic field has decreased by about 10%.

Scientists have mapped changes in the Earth's magnetic field over the past 9,000 years (websites)

Map of changes in the magnetic field

"We have mapped changes in the Earth's magnetic field over the past 9,000 years, and it is likely that anomalies such as those in the South Atlantic are recurring phenomena associated with corresponding changes in the strength of the Earth's magnetic field," says Andreas Nilsson, a geological researcher at Lund University.

The results of the study are based on the analysis of burnt artifacts, volcanic samples, and core sediment pits, all of which carry information about the Earth's magnetic field, including pottery that has been heated to more than 580°C, lava that has solidified, and sediments that have been deposited in lakes or in the sea. .

These objects act as time capsules, carrying information about the magnetic field in the past.

Using sensitive instruments, the researchers were able to measure this magnetism and reconstruct information about the direction and strength of the magnetic field at specific places and times.

"We have developed a new modeling method that links these indirect observations from different time periods and locations with a single global map of the magnetic field over the past 9,000 years," says Andreas Nilsson.

The anomaly in the South Atlantic disappears within 300 years, and the Earth is not heading towards a polarity reversal (Getty Images)

According to the statement, by studying how the magnetic field changes, researchers were able to learn more about the basic processes in the Earth's core that generate the magnetic field.

The new model can be used to date both archaeological and geological records, by comparing measured and modeled variations in the magnetic field.

The anomalies will disappear and the poles will not reverse

Reassuringly, these results led the researchers to a final conclusion, “We expect that the anomalies in the South Atlantic Ocean will likely disappear within 300 years, and that the Earth is not heading towards a polarity reversal,” says Andreas Nilsson.