Politician’s claim Earth’s magnetic poles could flip if NT doesn’t use more groundwater criticised by experts

Robyn Cahill claimed the NT had so much groundwater ‘we need to use some of it otherwise we might find ourselves flipping the poles again’. Photograph: Lloyd Jones/AAP View image in fullscreen Robyn Cahill claimed the NT had so much groundwater ‘we need to use some of it otherwise we might find ourselves flipping the poles again’. Photograph: Lloyd Jones/AAP Politician’s claim Earth’s magnetic poles could flip if NT doesn’t use more groundwater criticised by experts NT minister for trade and business Robyn Cahill makes scientifically inaccurate claims while pushing to make territory ‘datacentre capital of the globe’ Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A Northern Territory minister has been criticised for scientifically inaccurate claims that groundwater in the Northern Territory needs to be used to prevent the Earth’s magnetic poles from flipping. The NT minister for trade and business, Robyn Cahill, made the claim while speaking in Darwin last week about the government’s push to make the territory “the datacentre capital of the globe”. “For datacentres, the water supply is already in existence. It’s mainly subterranean,” she said. “The water supply that Darwin has is extraordinary.” “There’s scientific evidence to suggest that we have so much water underground in the Northern Territory that it actually impacts the axis of the Earth when we have a really bad wet season, so we need to use some of it otherwise we might find ourselves flipping the poles again.” Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email The Environment Centre NT’s executive director, Kirsty Howey, described Cahill’s claim as “completely cooked”. “The minister appears to believe that the Northern Territory’s wet season can alter Earth’s axis, which has no scientific basis,” Howey said. “It’s frightening that the people in charge of regulating dangerous industries like fracking and datacentres seem to lack even a high-school understanding of water science.” Dr Dylan Irvine, a groundwater hydrology expert at Charles Darwin University, told ABC Darwin: “We’re not at risk of the poles flipping … I’m not concerned about the Earth tipping or flipping of poles.” The Earth’s most recent major geomagnetic reversal – in which the positions of magnetic north and magnetic south flip – is known as the Brunhes-Matuyama reversal, and occurred an estimated 780,000 years ago . The flip is not instantaneous: scientific analysis suggests reversals take 7,000 years on average to occur. A recent temporary flip of the poles, classified as an “excursion” rather than a full geomagnetic reversal – occurred 42,000 years ago and lasted for about 1,000 years. “This is driven by processes that happen in the deep Earth … that happen in the Earth’s core … not so much groundwater systems,” Irvine said. Experts have warned, however, about the impact massive datacentre projects will have on already strained water resources , particularly in hotter climates where centres require more energy