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The Recent Changes In Earth's Magnetic Field (esa.int)
Europe's Swarm constellation of satellites have documented bigger-than-expected changes that have been occurring in the Earth's magnetic field. Earlier this year SpaceWeather.com reported that the data show clearly that "the field has weakened by about 3.5% at high latitudes over North America, while it has strengthened about 2% over Asia. The region where the field is at its weakest -- the South Atlantic Anomaly -- has moved steadily westward and weakened further by about 2%. These changes have occurred over the relatively brief period between 1999 and mid-2016."
Science writer Robert Zimmerman reports: It was already known that the field has weakened globally by about 10% since the 19th century. These changes appear to be part of that generally weakening. Some scientists have proposed that this is the beginning of an overall flip of the magnetic field's polarity, something that happens on average about every 300,000 years and last occurred 780,000 years ago. At the moment, however, we have no idea if this theory is correct.
Science writer Robert Zimmerman reports: It was already known that the field has weakened globally by about 10% since the 19th century. These changes appear to be part of that generally weakening. Some scientists have proposed that this is the beginning of an overall flip of the magnetic field's polarity, something that happens on average about every 300,000 years and last occurred 780,000 years ago. At the moment, however, we have no idea if this theory is correct.
Wow. I had considered coming here to joke about whether the anti-science deniers would come out of the woodwork to claim that the magnetic field wasn't changing at all and they were just after funding, but it looks like the bullshitters are still fixated on climate change.
that is equally as important as co2, but climate change pushers put all the burden on man.
We can't change the magnetic field (as far as we know), but we can change what we do to the environment. Nobody has ever said that it is only man who is causing climate change, but only man can actually do something about it.
i'm no climate change denier...
Yes you are
i just know ther is way more to this than the gov't and most gov't funded scientists pushing the man made global warming agenda would lead you to believe. follow the $.
The problem with that theory is that when the deniers fund their own study, it also comes to the same conclusion; that climate change is real and that the carbon dioxide curve is the best match to global warming. So following the $ is meaningless, unless you can show evidence that anyone has falsified their climate research to get funding. If not, then there is no basis to the corruption claim. With all the leaked emails in the world, and the massive number of people who would have to collude to perpetrate a hoax, it's amazing that nobody has found any proof to this claim. And that is despite the efforts of the well-funded denial groups out there. Sure, follow the $!
Sen. Inhofe, could you please go back to Oklahoma and guard your snowballs? I have evidence scientists want to steal your magic snowballs and claim their disappearance as evidence of man-made global warming.
Right. A complex system like earth's climate can be reduced to a correlation between something that is poorly mapped over historical time (magnetic field abnormalities) vs. an interplay with thousands of other variables (including anthrogenic CO2).
I love your simple world.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
Once Trump takes over, we'll have the strongest, most powerful magnetic field in history right here in 'murica! It's all part of his day 1 plan for making America Great Again!
This is likely nothing to worry about... if as hypothesized it is related to the magnetic flip. As the summary states this happens "on average" every 300000 years, and that's way more frequent than the return period of mass extinctions. Of course, this hypothesis could be wrong...
I like my dinosaurs feathery, and my pterosaurs hairy (or is it pycnofibery?)
Nobody has ever said that it is only man who is causing climate change
Actually the tsunami of climate change bollocks in the media and on most websites 24/7 implies precisely that.
No, you inferred it; they didn't imply it.
Nobody talks about natural variation at all.
What would you like them to say about it? It's not like we can petition the world to stop changing. However, the rate that the world is warming is way above what might occur naturally. Just because the climate could change naturally doesn't mean that we should be make it worse. Besides, don't deniers like to say that global warming is good because we should actually be moving into an ice age and that this warming actually stops that? You can't have it both ways! Is the "natural" climate change supposed to be getting hotter or colder?
" I had considered coming here to joke about whether the anti-science deniers would come out of the woodwork to claim that the magnetic field wasn't changing at all and they were just after funding...
After decades of man's thoughtless self-indulgence, a large part of the Earth's vital magnetic field has been chopped up into small pieces for use in motors, cow trash extractors, toys and worst of all, attaching bits of paper to refrigerators. It's time to return all magnets to mother Earth to do their part in keeping us cosmic particle free.
Unfortunately, this is about the most on-topic post for this story so far! Now I better go and bury my magnetic pillow. It's a worry, because it stimulates the blood flow to my brain and without it I won't believe in homeopathy.
You are mistaken about all of that. Current warming is decidedly NOT within the limits and extents of natural variation. The hockey stick graph was not "clearly untrue" and has been supported by more than two dozen reconstructions. The Medieval Warm Period was not a global phenomena and is therefore not comparable. Even if it was global, it still doesn't prove that the current warming is not the result of the greenhouse gases that we produce. That would be the same as saying the since people died before the invention of the gun then being shot won't kill you. Your opinion that the Medieval Warm Period has any relevance here is really down to the likes of Willie Soon, who has since been found to have received money from vested interests like Exxon Mobil and the American Petroleum Institute; a fact that he forgets to mention when he publishes papers on this subject.
If that is the basis of your claim then I stand by my statement that you are inferring the media's cover-up of this based on faulty assumptions.
TIL macro-evolved life wasn't around 780k years ago.
It's an event that's happened 3 times per million years on average for a long, long time that complicated life was around for. Yes, the weakening involved with a flip has had varying severity, but at this point there's a pretty large N.
Will it kill us off? Almost certainly not. Could there be bad cancer rates for a couple or a few generations as a result? Heck yes.
Nothing to worry about. People living at the time of reversal will have multiple poles and northern lights will be visible around the world. So a bit of confusion and a great light show.
Source: worrying about this years ago
I thought our magnetic field was caused by our molten iron core. Which is not something to undergo rapid changes.
It is called Geomagnetic reversal. The cause is still up for debate, but the magnetic field is produced precisely because the molten core is not static. Have a look at the Wikipedia page for a summary of the phenomenon.
So, science, in your opinion, what species will rule the earth next?
It will be cockroaches, more than likely. They seem to be new paradigm for political leadership. Shit flows downhill.
QED
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!