Though you might mean that compass will always aim towards the geographic north pole , the magnetic and geographical poles do not always align . As well as a few impermanent reversals , the Earth ’s magnetised theater – just like the Sun – can flip over long timescales . During the Brunhes – Matuyama reversal , the magnetic magnetic north could have been as far south as the equator .

You probably do n’t vex about the Earth ’s charismatic fields too much , assuming you do n’t have to rely on a range for navigation . The magnetosphere generally sits up there heed its own line , protect the Earth ’s aerofoil from charged particles from the Sun , and on occasion producingspectacular aurora . But the Earth ’s magnetic fields are not as fixedas you might think .

" We have it away that over the past 200 years , the magnetic playing field has weaken about 9 percent on a globular average . However , paleomagnetic study show the field is in reality about the strongest it ’s been in the retiring 100,000 years , and is twice as intense as its million - class average,“NASA explain .

" Since it was first precisely located by British Royal Navy officeholder and pivotal IE Sir James Clark Ross in 1831 , the magnetic north rod ’s post has gradually drifted north - NW by more than 600 miles ( 1,100 kilometers ) , and its forward-moving speed has increased , from about 10 mi ( 16 km ) per year to about 34 miles ( 55 km ) per year . "

The Pole can flip over the course of C or thousands of years , and this can happen at random , with intervals ranging anywhere from 10,000 years to50 million yearsor more . Around41,000years ago , the Earth go through a temporary reversion known as the Laschamp event . By studying the magnetisation of deposit substance taken from the time , scientists identified that the magnetised field concisely flip during this time time period .

" The field geometry of reversed polarity , with field lines pointing into the opposite steering when compared to today ’s configuration , lasted for only about 440 years , and it was associate with a theatre of operations persuasiveness that was only one twenty-five percent of today ’s field , " GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences researcher Norbert Nowaczyk , who studied the event , pronounce in astatement in 2012 . " The genuine polarity change last only 250 yr . In condition of geological time scales , that is very fast . "

While there are claim that the result was connect to theextinction of megafaunain Australia and the quenching of the Neanderthals through leave changes to the Earth ’s climate , experts are unbelieving , for model indicate out that these eventsdon’t delineate up wellwith temperature evidence from ice core .

The last genuine sustained reversal of the magnetic poles occur around 780,000 years ago , and is mention the Brunhes – Matuyama reversal after the geophysicist who first find grounds for it . While the Laschamp case was short - lived in geologic timescales , the Brunhes – Matuyama reversal is believed to have taken situation over longer timescales . Exactly how long the turnaround go is still subject for scientific debate , with in high spirits estimates evoke a turnaround lasting22,000 long time . grounds for this reversal can be seen across the globe , mostly by looking at magnetized field pipeline in the sediment record .

While you may show ancient human ancestors looking baffled as their anachronistic compasses suddenly flip way , these reversals are not so simple , and the charismatic plain can weaken to as little as10 percentof the strength we are used to . During them , there can be magnetic poles as far down as the equator , or even multiple north and south poles at different areas of the major planet .

The fields move around as a result of the liquid alloy slosh around around inside the Earth ’s outer core , themselves at the whims of the motion of the planet and its revolution , as well as heat - driven convection . Though it has been some time since the last true reversal and junket , the poles continue to move around the planet , and it remains difficult to predict when the next such reversal will occur . sooner this month , the magnetic north gotan update posture .

“ The current behaviour of charismatic north is something that we have never observed before , " Dr William Brown , ball-shaped geomagnetic field modeler at BGS , tell in a assertion in the first place in December . " Magnetic north has been moving tardily around Canada since the 1500s but , in the retiring 20 year , it quicken towards Siberia , increasing in swiftness every yr until about five year ago , when it suddenly decelerated from 50 to 35 km per year , which is the biggest retardation in swiftness we ’ve ever ascertain . "