The Earth's Magnetic Field Is Behaving Somehow "strange" - Alternative View

The Earth's Magnetic Field Is Behaving Somehow "strange" - Alternative View
The Earth's Magnetic Field Is Behaving Somehow "strange" - Alternative View

Video: The Earth's Magnetic Field Is Behaving Somehow "strange" - Alternative View

Video: The Earth's Magnetic Field Is Behaving Somehow
Video: What Will Happen When Earth's North And South Pole Flip? 2024, May
Anonim

Scientists report that the Earth's magnetic field behaves in an unusual way, and at some point it can "switch". While we're being told that we shouldn't expect a magnetic field reversal in the near future, something incredibly strange is happening.

The Earth has a red-hot core that creates a magnetic field that can protect our planet from destructive solar winds. This magnetic field is vital to all life on Earth, but it has weakened by 15 percent over the past 200 years. The field is a shield from harmful solar radiation and extends thousands of kilometers into space, and its magnetism affects everything from global communications systems to power systems.

Previously, the North and South magnetic poles of the Earth turned over every 200 or 300 thousand years. And the fact that the last change of the poles took place about 780 thousand years ago means that this process is lagging behind. Recent data from the European Space Agency's Swarm satellites, which track the Earth's magnetic field, may indicate a change is imminent. Satellites allow you to study the changes taking place in the Earth's core, from where the magnetic field originates. The researchers' observations indicate that molten iron and nickel are drawing energy from the region of the Earth's core, which creates a magnetic field. While scientists aren't sure exactly why this is happening, they describe it as “alarming activity” that suggests that the magnetic field is preparing for a pole reversal.

An international team of scientific experts compared the current state of the Earth's magnetic field with conditions during the Lashamp event (about 41,400 years ago) and the Lake Mono event (about 34,000 years ago). In both of these cases, the Earth's magnetic field "recovered", and the pole reversal did not occur, and scientists believe that it will be the same now.

"There is speculation that we are approaching a magnetic pole reversal or offset," said team member Richard Holm of the University of Liverpool in the UK. - However, having studied the last two displacements, we have shown that none of them resembles the current changes in the geomagnetic field, and therefore, we believe, such an event is unlikely to occur. On the contrary, our research suggests that the weakened magnetic field will recover without extreme consequences, and therefore it is unlikely to reverse the poles."

In a new report, Daniel Baker, who is director of the Atmospheric and Space Physics Laboratory at the University of Colorado in Boulder, USA, argues that if magnetic pole reversal occurs, it is likely to make certain areas of the planet "uninhabitable" due to power outages. systems.

Humanity will experience a pole reversal, but it could cause serious problems for satellites, communications systems, and electricity. There is also the possibility that this will affect the temperature and climate of the planet, but scientists are simply not yet sure what the consequences will be, since, after all, the last complete reversal of the poles took place 780 thousand years ago. But you can trust them when they say that there will be no power outages due to inversion of the poles anytime soon …

Dmitry Volkov

Promotional video:

Recommended: