Theoretical shortcomings aside, this study makes one important fact abundantly clear: there is a statistically significant association between mid-ocean seismic activity and the speed of the NMDP. (North Magnetic Dip Pole)
In a 2016 study I demonstrated that seismic activity along the globe’s mid-ocean ridges was highly correlated (0.785) with global temperatures from 1979 through 2015
An update through 2016 showed a strengthened correlation (0.814) along with the new knowledge that large upticks in mid-ocean seismic activity for 1995-1996 and 2013-2014 preceded the 1997-1998 and 2015-2016 “Super El Nino” episodes by two years [2].
Despite the general “non-acceptance” of this hypothesis, a recent study by Williams [3] links a seemingly unrelated geophysical phenomenon to mid-ocean seismicity; thus a new paradigm may be emerging from this important association. Specifically, Williams shows that the speed at which the North Magnetic Dip Pole (NMDP) moves is highly correlated (r=0.935)with mid-ocean seismic activity (Figure 1).
