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I too find this rather interesting.  I read recently in the NY Times about 
some research describing that the magnetic field flips every now and then, 
between every 1,000 to 28,000 years and that it may be getting ready to flip 
in the next one or two thousand years.

If you do a web search on "magnetic flip" or similar, you'll find a lot of 
info.  It would be interesting to find a reference stating that the core flow 
changes could also be affecting the spin rate of the earth.

-Casey


> George Huxtable wrote:
>
> The only other possibility that I'm aware of (and listed by Richard
> Langley) is a change in the circulating currents within the
> Earth's liquid
> interior. We know that these exist, and change, because these
> motions in
> the conductive liquid result in the ever-changing magnetic
> field pattern of
> the Earth. It seems most likely, to me, that there has been a
> significant
> increase over recent years, and a rather sudden one, in the
> component of
> overall swirl in the opposite direction to the rotation of
> the Earth. I
> wonder whether any such changes may be detectable in terms of a sudden
> effect on the Earth's magnetic field over recent years. It's just a
> thought.

   

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