The poles can flip over the course of hundreds or thousands of years, and this can happen at random, with intervals ranging ...

Scientists have long known that Earth’s magnetic field has not been a constant shield. Now, new interdisciplinary ...

In between these full geomagnetic reversals, which can last up to 10,000 years, we find shorter disruptions to the Earth’s magnetic field. These events are known as geomagnetic excursions.

Earth’s trusty magnetic field has been keeping the planet safe for at least 3.7 billion years. There’s a chance it might have formed even earlier than this, but the evidence is shaky and less ...

While such an event is not expected to happen any time soon, they have occurred periodically throughout Earth’s history—the last reversal took place around 780,000 years ago.

Key Background The strongest geomagnetic storm in the last two decades disrupted Earth’s magnetic field in May 2024, bringing the northern lights to Texas and Florida, according to NASA.