A giant weak spot in Earth’s magnetic field is now half the size of Europe

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Earth’s magnetic field is on the move — and one giant weak spot over the Atlantic is getting dramatically bigger. The South Atlantic Anomaly — a growing weak spot in Earth’s magnetic shield — has expanded by nearly half the size of continental Europe since 2014, with especially intense weakening now occurring near Africa. At the same time, magnetic strength is rising over Siberia and fading over Canada, reflecting powerful changes unfolding deep inside Earth’s core. Credit: ESA (Data source: Finlay, C.C. et al., 2025) After analyzing 11 years of magnetic field data from the European Space Agency's Swarm satellite constellation, researchers have found that a large weak zone in Earth's magnetic field over the South Atlantic has grown dramatically. This region, called the South Atlantic Anomaly, has expanded since 2014 by an area nearly half the size of continental Europe. Earth's magnetic field plays a critical role in making the planet livable. It acts as a protective barrier, shielding us from harmful cosmic radiation and charged particles streaming from the Sun. How
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