Future Inversion of the Magnetic Field and Possible Changes in the Structure of the Magnetosphere

Abstract

IGRF-12 model data have been used to analyze the change in the global structure of internal sources of the Earth’s magnetic field. A decrease in the dipole magnetic moment is accompanied by a rapid growth of multipole moments. This justifies the theoretical model of the magnetic field inversion as a gradual decrease in the dipole field with general conservation of its direction and amplification of multipole moments. Paleo- and archeomagnetic data indicate that this process has already been taking place for almost 2.5 thousand years and has occurred repeatedly many times in the past. A decrease in the dipole magnetic moment leads the magnetopause to approach the Earth to disappear completely in almost 1.5 thousand years.