A new study claims the Earth's magnetic fields could take as little as 100 years to complete a flip, causing the North Pole to become the South Pole.

The bad news: this flip will weaken the Earth's protective magnetic fields that protect us from killer solar flares and cosmic radiation.

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This phenomenon isn't rare, however. The Earth's magnetic fields have inverted multiple times throughout the planet's evolution. This process, however, doesn't happen overnight.

The dipole magnetic fields located at Earth's North and South Poles act like a bar magnet. The intensity of the polar magnetic fields remains the same for millions of years. For reasons that are still unknown, however, the poles weaken and shift.

A team of researchers from the University of California have demonstrated this event usually takes thousands to millions of years to occur. Today, however, it can now be completed in about 100 years, long enough for one lifetime.

The last magnetic reversal event occurred some 786,000 years ago.

The paleomagnetic data researchers consolidated is extensive and demonstrates how rapid magnetic reversals can occur, said UC Berkeley graduate student Courtney Sprain.

Since this magnetic reversal has accelerated, scientists now believe the magnetic poles will flip again in just a thousand years from now. No direct global disasters occurred during previous magnetic pole shifts, according to geological records.

There is also evidence the Earth's magnetic fields is weakening at ten times the normal rate.

Researchers from Europe and the U.S. measured the magnetic field alignment of some layers of ancient lake sediments in the Sulmona basin located at the Apennine Mountains in Italy. They used a method called argon-argon dating to determine how old the rocks are.

They found the Matuyama-Brunhes transition, which is a sudden 180 degree shift in terrain, occurred during a period of instability lasting 6,000 years.

Researchers are concerned about the worldwide effects of a magnetic field reversal that results in a period of instability similar to the one that took place in Italy.

The magnetic field reversal could result in genetic mutations or spikes in cancer due to the weakening and temporary loss of the magnetic fields.

This study was published in the journal, Geophysical Journal International. 

TagsEarth's Magnetic Pole Reversal Can Happen in 100 Years; Can Cause Higher Cancer Risk, earth magnetic pole reversal flip shift, earth magnetic fields