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The New York Times On Earth's Magnetic Flip-Flop

Posted by timothy on from the all-topsy-all-turvy dept.

TolkiEinstein writes "The New York Times reports that, relatively speaking, compasses may soon point South. It's long been known that Earth flips magnetically every half-million years or so, and, with the north pole's magnetic field at about 10-15 percent [less than] its strength of 150 years ago, many geologists feel a flip is coming up. Computer simulations also suggest that the current state of the magnetic field is indicative of an upcoming flip. Though it would take hundreds of years to complete, the impact on life may be significant but not catastrophic, including phenomena such as power-outages, satellite malfunctions and disruptions in the rhythmic functions of some animals such as loggerhead turtles. The EU plans to launch a trio of satellites in 2009 to assume polar orbits & monitor the field." (Cross your fingers for some nice solar wind.) Update: 07/13 17:02 GMT by T : Note: the summary here originally misstated the Times' article; the field 's strength has decreased 10-15 percent, rather than to 10-15 percent.

5 of 519 comments (clear)

  1. Hollywood Blockbuster? by BigDork1001 · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Am I the only one who sees this becoming the next Hollywood blockbuster disaster movie? They've done asteroids, tidal waves, volcanos, global warming/cooling, alien invasion, and so they have to be digging for ideas. And of course in true Hollywood fashion they'll toss science out of the window for the sake of a better film.

    --
    "Armed forces abroad are of little value unless there is prudent counsel at home" - Cicero
    1. Re:Hollywood Blockbuster? by mork · · Score: 5, Insightful

      > Am I the only one who sees this becoming the
      > next Hollywood blockbuster disaster movie?

      They have, see "The Core"

      > And of course in true Hollywood fashion
      > they'll toss science out of the window for the
      > sake of a better film

      They did ...

  2. Re:Bush's fault by malchus842 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Modded funny, but you just watch - people WILL blame the government when it happens. No matter how much you try to explain, no matter how clear the explainations are, a significant number of people are going to blame the government.

    It's also the case that whoever is in office is going to get burned by the problems - blamed for "lack of preparedness" or "failure to respond to the situation" etc, etc. And there will be calls for huge governmennt expenditures to "fix" or "solve" the problem.

  3. Re:Worldwide Aurora by PhxBlue · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Someone watched "The Core" one time too many. Earth's magnetic field does nothing to deflect UV radiation. I would recommend lead-lined clothing, not more sunblock. :)

    --
    !#@%*)anks for hanging up the phone, dear.
  4. Re:Less a flip and more a migration... by phillymjs · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You wouldn't go to sleep one night with your compass pointing north and suddenly have it point south when you woke up.

    No. In fact, frequently the opposite is what actually happens.

    ~Philly