Scientific American April 2005 issue has a good article on the mechanisms and possible reasons for the magnetic field reversals over time. "Probing the Geodynamo" by Glatsmeir and Olson
The magazine was available in a pile of issues for all to see, probably just before it was to be filed away.
The article was all about things about which I usually do not read, and some kids were making a lot of noise.
Anyway, I think that the article was trying to say that scientists are somewhat comfortable with the way that they have begun to monitor events within the earth's outer core as causing the magnetic pole shifts but that they would be a lot more comfortable if computers could trace these rapid dynamics as quickly in 3-D as in 2-D. The assertion that this ability will occur in ten years seemed to me to be wishful thinking.
More of what I read has suggested that the magnetic pole shift is moving towards Siberia rather than flipping altogether. There is speculation of changing weather patterns, with the possibility that the Northern Lights will no longer be seen in Alaska.
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