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North Pole Heads South
blamanj writes "Things are not looking good for Santa. First, news that it's getting warmer at the North Pole, and now, scientists report that the (magnetic) pole itself is on the move. 'Earth's north magnetic pole is drifting from North America at such a clip that it could end up in Siberia in the next 50 years.'"
Quick, call G.W. Bush that the russians are stealing the pole to hide weapons of mass destruction in siberia !
We haven't found them in Iraq, so they MUST be some else.
Is it true that we are overdue for a reversal in the polarity of the Earths magnetic field? Would this be a Bad Thing for us humans if it happened soon?
Yes, it would be a Very Bad Thing (tm) because when a reversal happens, we're left without the Earth's magnetic field, which protects us from lethal cosmic rays which are high enery/DNA disruptive stuff, such as gamma rays among other niceties.
Magnetic field reversals coincide with mass surface life extinctions, I'll bet it won't do us any good if it happens in our lifetime.
-- It's always darker before it goes pitch black.
Does this mean the South Pole will shift to Chile or Argentina as well?
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
But this site sure has them and this site has some too.
Read them. They are worth it.
It looks like there are two magnetic norths on the planet. Our current one looks like it is just the additive of the major and minor magnetic fields of the earth with their collective strengths oscillating over time... hence the apparent movement.
not true. even when flipping there is enough of a field to protect us. plus the magnetic field does nothing to protect us from gamma rays anyway. if a gamma ray burst happens anywhere in our neighbourhood and is aimed at us, then we're fucked field or no field. there are cosmic rays passing through us every second anyway.
Gamma rays are photons - i.e. light. They are not affected by the weak magnetif field surrounding the earth. Loss of the magnetic field would be devestating long term because it would make it easier for solar winds to slowly strip away the upper atmosphere.
But... a weakened field for a few decades will not send us all to early graves. The biggest impact of a changing magnetic field would be to:
- Navigation. I guess we all have to adjust to GPS and similar.
- Animal navigation. Sadly birds, fish, etc. haven't yet implemented and learned how to use GPS. They'll have loads of trouble.
In terms of dangers it poses to us in the next hundred or so years, should this be a continuation of the existing decrease/beginning of reversal in field strength, it's importance is way below things like climate change, oil reserves running out, etc.
Nuisance for us, a bitch for animals that rely on it to migrate, but as a race, the danger from it is effectively zero.
North Pole Heads South
Well, it didn't have much choice, did it? The north pole is the only place on earth where no matter where you're going, you're going south. So what's all the fuss about?
(of course the fact that it is actually moving is quite a story)