Trump's USDA fights court ruling protecting food benefits during pandemic

CHICAGO, May 13 (Reuters) - The Trump administration, aiming to tighten rules for federal food benefits, has appealed a federal judge's ruling that temporarily enabled hundreds of thousands of people to maintain food stamp benefits during the coronavirus pandemic, according to court documents.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP, provides free food to 36 million Americans. During the pandemic, millions of U.S. residents have lost jobs, and thousands have waited in lines at food banks.

Last year, Congress blocked a Trump administration-backed effort to tighten the rules through the Farm Bill. Since then, the administration has tried changing rules at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the program.

Critics said the appeal will hurt poor Americans, noting that last month the U.S. economy lost 20.5 million jobs, the steepest plunge in payrolls since the Great Depression.

Bing COVID-19 tracker: Latest numbers by country and state

"The lines at food banks have never been longer," said U.S. Representative Marcia Fudge, an Ohio Democrat. "And by any reputable account the worst is yet to come."

The USDA announced the rule in December and President Donald Trump said at the time many Americans receiving food stamps do not need them given the strong economy and low unemployment. The rule, set to take effect on April 1, limits each state's ability to waive work mandates, effectively requiring more food stamp recipients to work.

In March, Chief Judge Beryl Howell of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., granted a preliminary injunction and a stay on part of the rule, noting food needs during the pandemic.

"As a global pandemic poses widespread health risks, guaranteeing that government officials at both the federal and state levels have flexibility to address the nutritional needs of residents and ensure their well-being through programs like SNAP, is essential," Howell wrote in her March 13 opinion.

USDA filed a notice on Tuesday saying it would appeal the order, according to court documents.

In an email to Reuters, USDA said it has been "extremely aggressive" to ensure food needs are met during the pandemic.

"While we’re currently in a very challenging environment, we do not expect this to last forever," the agency said, adding "we must prepare our workforce to rejoin the economy when our nation reopens."

U.S. law generally limits how long adults without disabilities or dependents can receive food stamps, unless they meet work requirements. States can apply for limit waivers due to tough economic conditions. Counties with unemployment rates as low as 2.5% have been included in waived areas. (Additional reporting by Tom Polansek in Chicago; Editing by David Gregorio)

Georgia officials trying to stop large, invasive lizard that eats 'anything they want'

Joel Shannon, USA TODAY 

An invasive lizard that grows up to four-and-a-half feet long is causing concern for Georgia wildlife officials who are attempting to eradicate it from the state after years of sightings.

"They eat just about anything they want," said Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife biologist John Jensen in a May 8 video about the Argentine black and white tegu.

While the lizards have not been a threat to humans and common household pets, Georgia officials say people should avoid leaving pet foods outside, as it can attract the lizard. They are not known for being aggressive towards humans, although sometimes they may chase people.

The reptiles grow large, reproduce fast and eat a wide variety of things, from fruit to eggs, birds and small mammals. Tegus pose a threat to native wildlife, including gopher tortoises, a candidate for Endangered Species Act listing. They have been documented using gopher tortoise burrows and eating tortoise eggs and the young.

© Denis Farrell, AP A black and white Argentine Tegu lizard sticks out its tongue at the Yebo Gogga exhibition at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, in May 2015.

Jensen said the DNR is setting traps for the reptiles and asking for sightings to be reported. But "if you're able to safely and humanely dispatch of the animal, we encourage that," Jensen said.

Watch: 5 things to know about the invasive species

Worried about 'murder hornets'?: These other dangerous bugs are more common

This marks the third year the lizards have been trapped in southern Georgia, the Orianne Society said in a Monday Facebook post. Tegus have been causing problems in Florida for years.

They are popular in the pet trade but trouble when released in the wild. In Georgia's Toombs and western Tattnall counties, the lizards have been spotted crossing dirt roads, have turned up on game cams and even gotten trapped in a farmer’s shop.

If tegus are reproducing in the wild, catching them early is crucial. Once established, as with Florida’s two known populations, the only effective response is trying to stem their numbers and spread.

Multiple invasive species have been causing concern for United States wildlife officials this spring. Asian giant hornets, which gained notoriety for the nickname "Murder Hornets," have been spotted in the Pacific Northwest. And giant gypsy moths were recently spotted in Washington state as Gov. Jay Inslee issued an emergency proclamation.

The Great Irony of America’s Armed Anti-Lockdown Protesters

  Firmin DeBrabander   © The Atlantic

In recent weeks, the nation has been treated to an unsettling sight: angry men with assault rifles protesting various state lockdowns in response to the coronavirus pandemic. These demonstrations reached an ugly peak in Michigan last month—though they may yet worsen as the pandemic persists—when armed protesters rushed into the capitol building, and put on a chilling display of fury and intimidation. They claimed to be exercising their democratic rights of free speech and gun ownership. But there is something profoundly undemocratic about this form of demonstration.

Michigan lawmakers were understandably shaken when the armed throng surged into the capitol atrium; some donned bulletproof vests. The protesters screamed in the faces of stoic policemen who refused them entry to the Senate gallery. Many demonstrators sported fatigues and tactical gear, and also dark face masks—not so much out of public-health concern, mind you, though that was surely a handy excuse to seem even more menacing.

[Read: What the ‘liberate’ protests really mean for Republicans]

One immediately wonders: Why the guns? Are they necessary for this protest—any protest? A cursory glance at modern history reveals that some of the most effective demonstrations were strictly nonviolent. What did the lockdown protesters hope to add to their message with ominous assault rifles that they could not otherwise convey? Were they unsure that onlookers would appreciate the intensity of their anger?

Looking at these images, my reaction is not fear but its opposite: an overwhelming sense of the protesters’ impotence. That they carried guns suggests they were less than confident in the manifest justice of their cause or the seriousness of their passion, which they needed to amplify. It also indicates a kind of desperation and ignorance—they either don’t know about the tradition and practice of civic protest, or decided to largely abandon it. In any case, they could not have reasonably expected a democratic response to their show of force.

The governor could not submit to their demands—though President Donald Trump urged otherwise, and called the protesters “good people,” despite their intimidation (and assorted racist paraphernalia): To negotiate with these demonstrators would set an awful precedent. It would suggest that anyone can make public-policy demands at the end of a gun barrel—though the point of democracy is precisely to dispense with violence in policy negotiations. In that respect, many were right to dub the armed protesters “terrorists.” Though they might object to the title, the protesters certainly seemed to relish the intimidation they caused—they wanted to issue a threat of violence, and, indeed, armed insurrection.

The protesters complained of government tyranny—as they saw it, the governor was making univocal decisions contrary to the public interest. But real tyrants do not tolerate protest, much less armed protest. Under real tyranny, you don’t march around with your assault rifles, yelling into policemen’s faces. That is a death wish—the height of stupidity.

[Joshua Feinzig and Joshua Zoffer: A constitutional case for gun control]

Under real tyranny, you don’t reveal your weapons at all—and you don’t identify yourself as a threat. A real tyrant will dispatch armed threats out of hand. That the protesters were so brazen suggests they knew full well that they live in no tyranny. They were respected, and left unharmed, because we have the rule of law. Put otherwise: These men could angrily shake their weapons in the air, and play the role of armed insurrectionists—costumes and all—because their government actually protects them.

This is the great irony, of course—that these men are enjoying a surfeit of justice, though they refuse to recognize it. It is impossible to imagine people of a different skin color angrily marching with military-style weapons and being treated with similar generosity by law enforcement. As Representative Rashida Tlaib noted on Twitter, “Black people get executed by police for just existing, while white people dressed like militia members carrying assault weapons are allowed to threaten State Legislators and staff.”

Unfortunately, while these armed protesters benefited from the rule of law, they unwittingly undermined it. For their demonstration certainly looked lawless—or made the rule of law seem absent, or tenuous at best. Rule of law is largely a matter of faith, and it requires the broader population to buy in. When some do not, or when some doubt that the rule of law still pertains, and they act as if it did not, this risks undermining it for everyone else—who then gird themselves for looming chaos.

[Conor Friedersdorf: How to protect civil liberties in a pandemic]

In our current context, this means that the sight of angry—unhinged—individuals in our midst may inspire others to be similarly armed and on edge. This is a possibly disastrous development as tensions rise in the protracted fight against the pandemic, and economic catastrophe lingers, upending the lives of millions.

Furthermore, armed protests are inimical to the traditions of free speech and assembly. When you see protesters in military garb brandishing assault rifles, it does not inspire you to debate them—nor is it intended to. The protesters’ military demeanor is not meant to invite discussion; it’s meant to end it. Guns communicate—of themselves. In this case, they say that the time for debate, as well as any sort of nicety, is just about over, and others need to shut up and listen while the people with the guns talk, or issue demands.

Assembly under these conditions cannot and will not be tolerated for long. Governments are often eager to place limitations on public protest, to make it rare and less disruptive. Armed protest provides the perfect excuse to curtail and restrict assembly. Especially if, God forbid, one such protest were to erupt in violence. We enjoy the right of assembly, and we—all of us—can make proper use of it, only so long as it is peaceful.

Whether they admit it or not, when these men carry military-style guns in protest, they send the message that they have occupied the public sphere, and that others are not really welcome. The public sphere is less public in that regard—and these protesters are fed up with a diversity of viewpoints. Armed protesters don’t want to deliberate or debate, or even tolerate the opposition. When they appear, democracy ends.

US IMPERIALISM adds Cuba to blacklist on counterterrorismAFP
The United States said Wednesday it had added Cuba to a blacklist of countries that do not fully cooperate on counterterrorism, denouncing the presence of Colombian leftist guerrillas.

© ADALBERTO ROQUE 

Havana's Revolution Square stands nearly empty on May Day 2020 as a precaution against the coronavirus pandemic

Cuba joined four US adversaries -- Iran, Syria, North Korea and Venezuela -- in failing to be certified for 2019 under a US counterterrorism law that affects defense exports.

It was the first time that Cuba was not certified since 2015. The State Department pointed to the presence of negotiators from Colombia's ELN rebels, who traveled to Havana in 2017 to negotiate with the Bogota government but have not returned.

"Cuba's refusal to productively engage with the Colombian government demonstrates that it is not cooperating with US work to support Colombia's efforts to secure a just and lasting peace, security and opportunity for its people," the State Department said.

A senior official in Havana responded that Cuba was in fact "a victim of terrorism," a reference to attacks over the decades by militant anti-communists.

"There is a long history of terrorist acts committed by the US government vs. Cuba and complicity of US authorities with individuals and organizations that have organized, financed and executed such actions from US territory," Carlos F. de Cossio, the foreign ministry official in charge of US relations, wrote on Twitter.

Colombian President Ivan Duque, a conservative ally of the United States, broke off talks with the ELN after a January car bomb attack on a Bogota police academy killed 21 recruits.

The militants have been demanding, unsuccessfully, that Colombia grant safe passage for its negotiators to return from Cuba.

The State Department move will have little practical effect on Cuba, which does not import weapons from the United States, its arch-rival.

But the step is the latest by President Donald Trump to increase pressure on Cuba and move away from the reconciliation efforts under his predecessor Barack Obama.

The counterterrorism cooperation list is separate from State Department designations of state sponsors of terrorism, which have far-reaching legal effects and can pose major impediments to foreign investment.

The Obama administration removed Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism in 2015 as it established diplomatic relations, although Trump's State Department has flirted with putting it back on.

The ELN is said to operate in about 10 percent of Colombia but is a smaller player than the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which reached a landmark peace agreement with the government in 2016.

China: GOP Is Using Trump Sanctions Bill to 'Deflect Responsibility'

JUST TELLING IT LIKE IT IS 

SHREWD

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian criticized a Senate bill that would allow President Donald Trump to sanction China over the coronavirus outbreak and claimed Republicans were using it to deflect blame. AND HE WOULD BE CORRECT

Asked about the bill during Wednesday's briefing, Zhao told reporters the proposed legislation, which pushes for investigations based on the "presumption of guilt," was "highly immoral" and a way to "shirk responsibility for the U.S. fumbling response to China." He advised politicians to focus on the outbreak instead of "racking their brains to distract attention and deflect responsibility."

Senator Lindsey Graham introduced the legislation, formally titled the COVID-19 Accountability Act, on Tuesday. It would authorize Trump to impose sanctions on China if the country fails to "provide a full accounting of the events leading up to the outbreak" of the new coronavirus.

Under the legislation, Trump would be required to confirm within 60 days that China had provided a complete accounting in any investigations led by the U.S., its allies or United Nations Affiliates. He would also have to confirm that China closed all "operating wet markets" that could potentially expose humans to health risks and released all Hong Kong pro-democracy advocates arrested in "post-COVID-19 crackdowns."

Failing to certify these items would enable Trump to impose a range of sanctions, including freezing assets, travel bans, visa revocations and barring Chinese companies from being listed on American stock exchanges.

Newsweek reached out to Graham for comment but did not receive a response before publication.

The pandemic has infected nearly 4.3 million people worldwide, and America is bearing the brunt of the outbreak, with 1.37 million cases and 82,461 deaths. Reporters have long questioned China's transparency on its outbreak, and with cases surging in the U.S., U.S. officials have accused the authoritarian state of failing to be entirely honest.

China, with the backing of the World Health Organization, has rejected charges that it has not been informative, and Zhao said the country has been acting in an "open, transparent and responsible way" since the outbreak began. He cited China's communication with the WHO and the recognition China received from the "international community."

Australian officials also expressed concerns about China's transparency, and Germany's foreign minister, Heiko Maas, told the Funke media group that China's response to how the virus originated will show "how transparent it wants to be." However, a March report from the WHO-China Joint Mission, a group of 25 international experts, praised China's response for being unprecedented and helpful in reducing the virus's spread.

In announcing his bill, Graham rejected the idea that China was successful in its response, saying he was convinced that without the "Chinese Communist Party deception the virus would not be here in the United States."

"It's time we push back against China and hold them accountable," Graham said. "More than 80,000 Americans are dead and millions more are jobless today because of China's failure to contain and prevent the spread of the virus."

© Greg Baker/AFP/Getty Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian speaks at the daily media briefing in Beijing on April 8. On Wednesday, Zhao criticized a bill put forth by Senator Lindsay Graham, saying that it was intended to deflected blame about the American response to the coronavirus outbreak.

Eight other Republican senators co-sponsored Graham's legislation, a move that Zhao claimed was coming out of the National Republican Senatorial Committee playbook. He cited a Politico article from April 24 that referenced a memo from that committee. The April memo pushed three main messages: that China caused the pandemic by lying, covering it up and hoarding supplies; a politician's opponent is "soft on China" and "can't be trusted to take them on; and a Republican will stand up to China, push for sanctions and bring back jobs.

Zhao claimed that the Americans' "screenplay" of blaming China was "laid bare so badly" that "there is no point in going ahead with it."

Researchers Have Found a New Defense to Help Coral Survive Bleaching

Dharna Noor


Coral reefs are home to as many species as tropical rainforests. Yet rapidly heating waters threaten to wipe coral out.

Reducing carbon emissions is one way to keep waters from getting too hot. But scientists in Australia are also on a mission to save coral by training the microalgae that keep them alive, and they’ve documented their efforts in a new study in Science Advances published on Wednesday.

Hotter water puts stress on coral and can lead to coral spitting out algae, a process known as coral bleaching. When that happens, though, it can be a death sentence for coral and the species that rely on healthy reefs. In an effort to help coral, scientists created an exposure therapy experiment for the tiny algae that provide them with life.

'It's Horrific': Climate Change Is Killing the Great Barrier Reef

For four years, the researchers exposed 10 strains of algae to water heated to about 89 degrees Fahrenheit, which is roughly the peak temperature the Great Barrier Reef reached in February 2020. That threshold can trigger mass bleaching. They then compared those strains to other algae, which they’d exposed to roughly 81 degrees Fahrenheit over the same period. It turns out algae can develop higher heat tolerance: All 10 of the strains exposed to higher temperatures evolved to withstand them.

To see if those strains could also help prevent coral from bleaching, the researchers then introduced those strains to coral larvae and exposed them to water warmed to 89 degree Fahrenheit. In three out of the ten cases, the coral didn’t spit out the algae. This research suggests that algae that have adapted to heat could help restore the world’s coral and buffer it against future change.

“While evidence suggests that corals are slowly adapting to a warmer world, it appears they are struggling to keep pace with climate change,” the scientists said in a press release. If more research confirms these results and labs are able to develop more heat-resistant algae, scientists could introduce them to coral reefs in the wild. The researchers think this could prevent coral from bleaching, giving them a big boost in the face of the climate crisis.

Coral reefs are some of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet. They’re also crucial to the health of people and the planet since they protect coastlines from flooding, are an important source of food, and serve other important functions.

The findings come at important time. Last month, Australian researchers found that parts of the Great Barrier Reef suffered a mass bleaching event—the third one to hit the area in the past five years. Previous research has shown that if the world heats more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times, coral will largely go extinct. It’s clear that right now, coral need all the help they can get.

India's carbon emissions drop for the first time in four decades

By Amy Woodyatt, CNN 

India has seen its first year on year reduction in carbon emissions for the first time in four decades, new analysis released Tuesday shows.

© Indranil Aditya/NurPhoto/Getty Images 

India has seen a year-on-year reduction in carbon emissions -- the first in four decades.

An economic slowdown, the growth of the country's use of renewable energy and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic have all contributed to the fall, analysis from environmental website Carbon Brief has found.

Over the past year, India had already been seeing weakened demand for thermal power generation because of lower demand and competition from renewable energy, researchers said.

However, lockdown measures introduced to curb the spread of coronavirus caused a further, steeper "drop off" in March, pushing thermal power generation growth below zero for the first time in three decades. Carbon emissions fell by an estimated 15% in March, and a likely 30% in April, analysts said.

Studying oil, gas and coal consumption, researchers estimate that CO2 emissions fell by 30m tons in the fiscal year ending March, in what they say could be the first such annual decline in four decades.

© Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images Clear blue skies seen over the Presidential Palace during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown in New Delhi, on April 2.

Analysts from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) noted that demand for coal was already down in the country, with coal deliveries falling by 2% in the fiscal year ending March -- a first in two decades. However, this trend steepened in March, with coal sales falling 10% and imports falling 27.5%.

© Parveen Kumar/Hindustan Times/Getty Images A view of clear blue skies and clean air during a nationwide lockdown to curb spread of coronavirus in Gurugram, India, on April 20.

India imposed a nationwide lockdown on March 25 to stop the spread of coronavirus, closing factories, markets, shops, and places of worship and suspending most public transport and construction work.

Already, data has shown that cities are recording much lower levels of harmful microscopic particulate matter known as PM 2.5, and of nitrogen dioxide, which is released by vehicles and power plants.

Studying data from India's national grid and main coal producer, analysts said that disruption caused by coronavirus has cut India's demand for electricity, which has reduced appetite for coal.

Studying daily data from India's national grid, analysts found that coal-fired power generation fell 15% in March and 31% in the first three weeks of April, while renewable energy generation increased by 6.4% in March and decreased by 1.4% in April.

Oil consumption has also been slowing since early 2019, researchers found, but noted that Covid-19 lockdown measures have had a "dramatic impact" on transport oil consumption, which fell 18% in March 2020 compared to the previous year.

Though oil consumption grew 0.2% during the fiscal year, this was the slowest growth in at least 22 years because of coronavirus, researchers said, adding there had already been slower demand in the sector earlier in the year.

Meanwhile, natural gas consumption, which increased 5.5% in the first 11 months of the fiscal year, is expected to fall by up to 20% during the lockdown, analysts said.

Though they note that the coronavirus pandemic is only affecting India's emissions in the short term, analysts said the disruption caused by coronavirus could "catalyse, reinforce or accelerate the factors that have already been driving Indian policymaking in this area."

Cicadas will soon emerge in North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia starting this month


Jessica Flores, USA TODAY

It's that time of year again: cicadas are expected to emerge in the East coast after living underground for 17 years.

© Sci/Tech The return of the cicadas

This year's periodical cicadas, which will appear this month in North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia, are called " Brood IX (9)."


Cicadas emerge when the ground reaches 64 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the website CicadaMania.

John Cooley, an entomologist at the University of Connecticut, told USA TODAY that cicadas pop up in the evening "to be able to do the things that they have to do but it's also going to be dark enough that they're not going to get wiped out by birds."

Cicadas, which are grouped into "broods," come out of the ground every 17 years to mate, with some appearing every 13 years. Cooley says researchers don't know why the insects have a reoccurring appearance.

“The general consensus is that the long, prime-numbered life-cycle makes it difficult for an above-ground animal predator to evolve to specifically predate them,” according to Cicada Mania.

© USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station and Northeastern Area State & Private Forestry Active Periodical Cicada Broods of the United States.

More than one type of brood may emerge in some areas at the same time due to staggered development, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.

There are periodical and annual cicadas. The periodical cicadas shed their outer covering once they pop out of the ground, and have black bodies with red eyes and yellowish-orange wings. Annual cicadas are larger in size and have brown or green bodies with black or brown eyes, and black or green wings.

Cicadas are also not dangerous. The male cicadas flexes its muscles to make a loud sound to attract females. And many usually live two to four weeks after living underground for 17 years.

Antimicrobial surface coating kills coronavirus for 90 days: study

AFP

A specially formulated antimicrobial coating can keep surfaces clear of a human coronavirus for up to 90 days with just one application, a preliminary study said Friday, suggesting a new line of defense against COVID-19.

© - A technician is pictured in 2018 applying Allied BioScience's first generation antimicrobial coating product

The paper by researchers at the University of Arizona (UA), which has not yet been peer-reviewed, found that the amount of virus on coated surfaces reduced by 90 percent in 10 minutes and by 99.9 percent in two hours.

Charles Gerba, a microbiologist at UA who was the study's senior author, told AFP the technology was "the next advancement in infection control."

"I think it's mostly important for high-use surfaces like subways and buses, because you could disinfect them but then the next people that come in there will recontaminate the surfaces," he said.

"It's not a substitute for regular cleaning and disinfecting, but it covers you in between regular disinfecting and cleaning.

The UA team tested a coating specifically designed to act against viruses that was developed by the company Allied BioScience, which also funded their study.

The researchers carried out their testing on human coronavirus 229E, which is similar in structure and genetics to SARS-CoV-2 but causes only mild cold symptoms and was therefore safer to use.

The coating works by "denaturing" the virus' proteins -- effectively twisting them out of shape -- and attacking its protective layer of fat.

The colorless substance is sprayed on surfaces, and has to be reapplied every three to four months.

The technology behind so-called self-disinfecting coatings has been around for almost a decade, and has previously been used in hospitals to fight against the spread of infection, including against antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

A 2019 paper by UA researchers found that coatings reduced hospital-acquired infections by 36 percent.

Gerba said that as a university professor, he and colleagues had been discussing ways to make their environment safer for students when they return from lockdowns, and antimicrobial coatings on door handles and table tops would be useful.

"There's a lot of them being developed right now, but hopefully when we start opening everything, they'll be ready."

The north magnetic pole is leaving Canada for Siberia. These 'blobs' may be the reason why.

The north magnetic pole is lurching away from its traditional home in the Canadian Arctic and toward Siberia because of a fierce tug-of-war battle being waged by two giant blobs hiding deep underground, at the core–mantle boundary, a new study finds. 

© Provided by Live Science null

These blobs, areas of negative magnetic flow under Canada and Siberia, are in a winners-take-all struggle. Already, as these blobs change shape and magnetic intensity, a victor has emerged; from 1999 to 2019, while the blob beneath Canada weakened, the blob under Siberia slightly intensified, the researchers found. "Together, these changes caused the north magnetic pole to travel towards Siberia," the researchers wrote in the study.


"We've never seen anything like this before," study lead researcher Phil Livermore, an associate professor of geophysics at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom, told Live Science in an email.

Related: Earth from above: 101 stunning images from orbit

When scientists first located the north magnetic pole (the point where your compass needle points) in 1831, it sat in the northern Canadian territory of Nunavut. Soon, researchers realized that the north magnetic pole tended to wander, but it usually didn't stray far. Then, from 1990 to 2005, the magnetic pole's yearly jaunt jumped from a historic speed of no more than 9 miles (15 kilometers) a year to as much as 37 miles (60 km) a year, the researchers wrote in the study.

In October 2017, the north magnetic pole crossed the international date line and entered the Eastern Hemisphere, passing within 242 miles (390 km) of the geographic north pole. Then, the north magnetic pole began moving southward. The change was so rapid, that in 2019, geologists were forced to publish a new World Magnetic Model, a map that informs everything from airplane navigation to the GPS on smartphones, a year ahead of time.

It was anyone's guess why the pole was leaving Canada for Siberia. That was until Livermore and his colleagues realized that the blobs were, in large part, responsible.

© Provided by Live Science The magnetic north pole has wandered away from the Canadian Arctic (solid blue line) and toward Siberia for about the past century, but it has considerably sped up over the past 20 years. The international date line is shown as a black dotted line. The data after 2019 are extrapolated lines based on different models. (Image credit: Livermore PW, et al. Nature Geoscience (2020)


Changing blobs

The magnetic field is generated by swirling liquid iron deep inside the Earth in the outer core. As such, changes in that sloshing iron can change the location of magnetic north.

The magnetic field isn't confined to the core, however; magnetic field lines "poke out" of Earth, Livermore said. As it turns out, these blobs are the spots where these lines pop out. "If you imagine the lines of [the] magnetic field like soft spaghetti, then these patches would be like a cluster of spaghetti sticking out of the Earth," he said.

The researchers discovered that from 1999 to 2019, the blob under Canada elongated east to west and divided into two smaller joined blobs, possibly because of a change in the pattern of core flow between 1970 and 1999. One of these blobs had a higher intensity than the other, but overall this elongation "caused the weakening of the Canadian patch at Earth’s surface," the researchers wrote in the study.

Furthermore, because of the split, the Canadian blob with higher intensity became closer to the Siberian blob. This, in turn, enhanced the Siberian blob, the researchers wrote.

However, these two blobs are in a delicate balance, so "it would take only a minor readjustment of the present configuration to reverse the current trend" of the north magnetic pole's current trek toward Siberia, the researchers wrote in the study. In other words, a tweak to one blob or the other could send the North Magnetic pole back toward Canada.

Reconstructions of past north magnetic pole movements suggests that two blobs — and sometimes three — have influenced the pole's position over time. These blobs have prompted the pole to wander around northern Canada for the past 400 years, the researchers said.

"But over the last 7,000 years, [the north magnetic pole] seems to have chaotically moved around the geographic pole, showing no preferred location," the researchers wrote in the study. The pole also moved toward Siberia in 1300 B.C., according to modeling.

It's difficult to say what will happen next. "Our predictions are that the pole will continue to move towards Siberia, but forecasting the future is challenging and we cannot be sure," Livermore said.

That forecasting will rely on "detailed monitoring of the geomagnetic field from Earth's surface and space in the coming years," the researchers wrote in the study, which was published online May 5 in the journal Nature Geoscience. 

Earth pictures: Iconic images of Earth from space
In photos: A conveyor belt for Arctic Sea ice
In photos: The vanishing ice of Baffin Island

Originally published on Live Science.