The series of magnetic measurements at some European observatories give som
e hint of a new geomagnetic jerk around 1999. The geomagnetic impulses woul
d present the remarkable and intriguing property to occur with a frequency
of one per decade, in the last third of the 20th century. The geomagnetic j
erks have been proposed to be indicators which anticipate the changes in th
e Earth's rotation rate. If this statement is of general validity, the 1992
jerk should be followed by an acceleration of the Earth rotation which wou
ld take place now. And, along the same lines, we might predict a new decele
ration in less than 10 yr. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserv
ed.