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Dr Robert Wicks from Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÖÐÌØÍø IRDR will be talking about the risks associated with the reversal of the Earth's magnetic field on Inside Science on Thursday 14/02 at 4:30 pm (and repeated at 9pm). The Earth's magnetic field has been changing more rapidly than usual in the past couple of years and this has resulted in the recent announcement of an update to the magnetic field model of the Earth by the USGS and BGS. The Earth's magnetic field can change on the time scale of thousands of years and can even flip so that North and South poles are reversed. Dr. Wicks answers questions about whether we should be concerned about the changing magnetic field and what risk it might pose to satellites, in particular Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), such as GPS and Galileo. 

If you want to learn more, the Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÖÐÌØÍø IRDR MSc Space Risks and Disaster Reduction programme teaches students about the risks posed by outer-space and how the Earth’s magnetic field provides some protection from space weather.