Earth’s core may have stopped spinning and reversed its spinning direction, but this should not cause the public concern.
Here’s what we know.
What was discovered: The Independent reported that a new study has found that the Earth’s solid inner core layer might have slowed its rotation to a stop and recently begun spinning in the opposite direction.
The study suggests that Earth’s core does this periodically on a cycle that lasts from 60 to 70 years and may have a connection to climate change and other geological events, according to Vice.
What has been said: “The Earth’s inner core is separated from the rest of the solid Earth by the liquid outer core, enabling it to rotate differently from the rotation of the Earth itself. The spin of the inner core is driven by the magnetic field generated in the outer core and balanced by the gravitational effects of the mantle,” according to the study published in the Nature Geoscience journal.
The Weather Channel reported that this finding should not cause people to panic, as it does not change anything about a typical day.
Why is this important: The Washington Post reported that the Earth’s core seems to have done this before.
“It’s only contentious because we can’t figure it out,” John Vidale, a geophysicist at the University of Southern California, said. “It’s probably benign, but we don’t want to have things we don’t understand deep in the Earth.”
The Miami Herald reported that experts have determined that when the Earth reverses its spinning direction, it doesn’t “affect our daily lives.”
“We show surprising observations that indicate the inner core has nearly ceased its rotation in the recent decade and may be experiencing a turning back in a multidecadal oscillation, with another turning point in the early 1970s,” Dr. Yi Yang and Dr. Xiaodong Song, scientists at Peking University, wrote.