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Rapid changes in the churning movement of Earth's liquid outer core are weakening the magnetic field in some regions of the planet's surface, a new study says.
"What is so surprising is that rapid, almost sudden, changes take place in the Earth's magnetic field," said study co-author Nils Olsen, a geophysicist at the Danish National Space Center in Copenhagen.
The findings suggest similarly quick changes are simultaneously occurring in the liquid metal, 1,900 miles (3,000 kilometers) below the surface, he said.
The swirling flow of molten iron and nickel around Earth's solid center triggers an electrical current, which generates the planet's magnetic field.
The study, published recently in
Nature Geoscience, modeled Earth's magnetic field using nine years of highly accurate satellite data.
Comment: This is a logical fallacy. Yes, warming is a fact - well, until recently. Yes, NF3 is a greenhouse gas. If you dump NF3 into the atmosphere will it warm it? In a closed system, yes. In an open, nonlinear system the answer is, maybe. In a nonlinear system it could just as likely cool it, perhaps by increasing low level cloud cover. Meanwhile, last time we checked, flat screen sales were down on Pluto.