Old news: earths magnetic field may flip

[BennyD]

link

searched high and low but found nowt, might be in archives but i can't be bothered.


omg, we all gonna fry :Q

 

[Bignate603]

Um, yeah... I don't really trust the source.

 

[Eli]

The earth's magnetic field protects us from the sun's radiation?

That's news to me.

 

[MacBaine]

Originally posted by: Eli
The earth's magnetic field protects us from the sun's radiation?

That's news to me.

Is it really? You know they do....

 

[Kadarin]

Originally posted by: Eli
The earth's magnetic field protects us from the sun's radiation?

That's news to me.

It's called the Van Allen Belt; the Earth's magnetosphere does indeed protect us from the worst of the Sun's radiation.

 

[Eli]

'Reversals happen every 250,000 years or so, and as there has not been one for almost a million years, we are due one soon.'

Soon? According to that statement, we're almost 750,000 years late. Wouldn't that cause more concern than the fact itself?

I've heard a lot about the pole shift, but is it really for real? It seems impossible for the earth's magnetic field to "disappear", wouldn't that mean some incredibly major changes within the core?

It seems rediculous to me.

 

[BennyD]

Originally posted by: Bignate603
Um, yeah... I don't really trust the source.

sourcesourcesourcesourcesourcesourcesource

enough for ya?

 

[MacBaine]

Originally posted by: Eli

'Reversals happen every 250,000 years or so, and as there has not been one for almost a million years, we are due one soon.'

Soon? According to that statement, we're almost 750,000 years late. Wouldn't that cause more concern than the fact itself?

I've heard a lot about the pole shift, but is it really for real? It seems impossible for the earth's magnetic field to "disappear", wouldn't that mean some incredibly major changes within the core?

It seems rediculous to me.

Even if it did happen, I don't understand how it would kill everybody... fvck with some birds, yeah, but wouldnt everything still be fine?

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: Astaroth33

Originally posted by: Eli
The earth's magnetic field protects us from the sun's radiation?

That's news to me.

It's called the Van Allen Belt; the Earth's magnetosphere does indeed protect us from the worst of the Sun's radiation.

Yeah, I guess now that I think about it.. I've seen those diagrams that show how the magnetic field effects it.

But what about the pole shift itself? My dad talks about it quite a bit, so it's kind-of ingrained in my head, but I've always just blown it off as nonsense.

If the Earth went through some sort of catastrophic pole change event every 250,000 years... most species wouldn't get very far.

 

[Glitchny]

Scientists have discovered that its strength has dropped precipitously over the past two centuries and could disappear over the next 1,000 years.

next 1,000 year hmm? im not that worried cause i expect we will have killed ourselves by then

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: BennyD

Originally posted by: Bignate603
Um, yeah... I don't really trust the source.

sourcesourcesourcesourcesourcesourcesource

enough for ya?

Hmm, well that place does indeed talk about it as if it was real..

Neubert admits that the case for a switch in the magnetic field is unproven and says that the field is a chaotic system and therefore difficult to predict.

Bloxham, however, believes that more accurate data will not point to a reversal. "I think the chances are that it will not happen, " he says. "It's a highly erratic process - there have been intervals of tens of millions of years without reversals." But Neubert is looking forward to a reversal. "It would be an exciting time, " he says.

 

[Eli]

From the original article;

How long a reversal might last is a matter of scientific controversy, however. Records of past events, embedded in iron minerals in ancient lava beds, show some can last for thousands of years - during which time the planet will have been exposed to batterings from solar radiation. On the other hand, other researchers say some flips may have lasted only a few weeks.

Hmm, damn. So I guess it really is a real phenomenon?

 

[pennylane]

My physics teacher said it'd happen.

 

[BennyD]

Originally posted by: Eli

Hmm, well that place does indeed talk about it as if it was real..

you know i posted like 7 different sources?

 

[Iron Woode]

Yes it is a real phenomenon. The poles just change polarity. Your compass will read wrong.

I don't see how this can hurt anyone, since it has happened before and we are still here.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: BennyD

Originally posted by: Eli

Hmm, well that place does indeed talk about it as if it was real..

you know i posted like 7 different sources?

Where?

 

[BennyD]

[source] [source] [source] [source] [source] [source] [source]

there ya go Eli

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: BennyD
[source] [source] [source] [source] [source] [source] [source]

there ya go Eli

Oh, sh!t, I didn't notice each "source" was a differen't link. I just clicked on the first one. Sorry.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: BennyD
[source] [source] [source] [source] [source] [source] [source]

there ya go Eli

Oh, sh!t, I didn't notice each "source" was a differen't link. I just clicked on the first one. Sorry.

Eli, it's been documented for a long time. I havent read any of the links yet, however I have read up on it before. I do expect it to be a problem, but I also expect the next Yellowstone volcanic event to be too. I doubt any of us will have 50 generations of decendents before any of this happens. Maybe 50,000 even.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: Hayabusarider

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: BennyD
[source] [source] [source] [source] [source] [source] [source]

there ya go Eli

Oh, sh!t, I didn't notice each "source" was a differen't link. I just clicked on the first one. Sorry.

Eli, it's been documented for a long time. I havent read any of the links yet, however I have read up on it before. I do expect it to be a problem, but I also expect the next Yellowstone volcanic event to be too. I doubt any of us will have 50 generations of decendents before any of this happens. Maybe 50,000 even.

Interesting.. But it shouldn't be like a catastrophic extinction type of problem, right?

Assuming it did happen in our lifetimes... shrug. Bring it on.

 

[BennyD]

they say that they expect it within the next 1000 years, and that it will take almost 200 years to actually flip.

that mean we might only be 10 - 15 generations away :Q

 

[Kadarin]

Originally posted by: Iron Woode
Yes it is a real phenomenon. The poles just change polarity. Your compass will read wrong.

I don't see how this can hurt anyone, since it has happened before and we are still here.

It hasn't happened while humanity has been an intelligent species. And the problem is not that the poles will be reversed, but that for an indeterminate time during the reversal process the Earth will not be protected from the more harmful forms of electromagnetic radiation by the Van Allen Belt.

 

[WhiteKnight]

This is definitely something that has happened before, though not since we've existed as an intelligent species. In fact, by examining mid-ocean ridges where material is expelled from cracks in the ocean floor and is carried away from the ridge, one can tell the "polarity history" of the Earth. The matter that is pushed away from the ridge is polarized, so by examining it over varying distances from the ridge, you can tell what the Earth's polarity was at different times. I'd imagine that a polarity change now would have some pretty negative effects on satellites and other navigation equipment, especially during the change when the field strength is at a low.

 

[element]

Hey maybe that's why the dinosaurs went extinct. No wonder they looked so dry and leathery. Now we need to get to work on making Barney extinct.

 

[dighn]

Also heard about this a long time ago. It has done this before so it probably won't be too big of a problem.