Earth's magnetic field flip research

[Cynical Sounds]

Hey an interesting article about how new research shows a north/south magnentic reversal could take less than an human lifespan to complete rather than the hundreds of years previously thought.

http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2014/10/14/earths-magnetic-field-could-flip-within-a-human-lifetime/

[Capt.]

We might be about to learn more about magnetic pole reversals than we are prepared for.

It is already beginning to effect our technology such as having to renumber runways: http://phys.org/news/2011-01-tampa-airport-runways-renumbered-due.html

Considering what generates our magnetosphere it is hard not to be just a little concerned when the poles start wandering around at an accelerating rate.

Don't forget that the sun's magnetic poles might be about to flip too (connected?). Both magnetic fields protect us from potentially dangerous and not fully understood cosmic energies/matter but this shielding could fail to some degree during a pole shifting period. We might be living in interesting times.

[Oxo1]

So could this lead to the extinction of all life on the planet?

Cockroaches no.

I must check my magnetic compass, and see what the difference is.

Edited October 22, 2014 by Oxo1

[ineffectiveArtist]

This affects me how? I'll be dead by then...

[Mac E]

I won't hold my breath. It will most likely be a gradual process and not immediate.

[skookum]

Oh my God it will kill us all!

Hang on we will dead anyway, next doomsday story.

[6.6.6]

Earth's magnetic field is about to flip.............

So am I afer seeing the wifes credit card bill

[Grandpa Greenman]

The internet!! What will happen to the internet?!!

[MJNYC]

The internet!! What will happen to the internet?!!

[media=]

[/media]

LOL, thanks for sharing that

[Doug1029]

So could this lead to the extinction of all life on the planet?

Cockroaches no.

I must check my magnetic compass, and see what the difference is.

Life has survived numerous magnetic reversals before. I wouldn't worry about that. Might result in some lost birds, but there should be plenty of survivors who may have to give up migrating for awhile. Might it affect electronics? Maybe. I haven't read up on that.

Doug

[keithisco]

Life has survived numerous magnetic reversals before. I wouldn't worry about that. Might result in some lost birds, but there should be plenty of survivors who may have to give up migrating for awhile. Might it affect electronics? Maybe. I haven't read up on that.

Doug

I guess you would need to recalibrate aircraft magnetometers, but that is quite a simple process. I'm more worried about my Lodestone hanging on its leather strap

[Ashotep]

We could have to go without electric for some time and cancer rates would go up but I think those would be the main two problems. I don't think it would wipe life out but put hardships on it. It would be a major hardship not having electric. Ever went days without it? I have and it will make you nuts. Bet the crime rate would go way up.

[Doug1029]

I guess you would need to recalibrate aircraft magnetometers, but that is quite a simple process. I'm more worried about my Lodestone hanging on its leather strap

For me, the real problem would be the altered field lines themselves. They are still used in land survey and I may soon start on a major project involving land survey. I'll be using some high-powered GPS machines and a serious magnetic anomaly could screw with that, putting me out of business. But I really don't think I have much to worry about, at least in the short run.

Doug

[bigjonalien]

I can't wait it might be tomorrow!

[pallidin]

So, if it "flips" in my lifetime, when I now drive south to Florida, does it then mean that I am driving NORTH to Florida?

And do the then new world globe maps have to be turned up-side down? That would be odd.

[pallidin]

Come to think of it, it would be odd.

Just because the magnetic poles "flip" doesn't mean the earth itself "flips", so the seasonal differences would remain the same.

So, the nomenclature of "North and South" might have to be replaced by some other wording, such as "Up and Down"

Going DOWN to Florida from Canada, as opposed to "going NORTH to Florida from Canada"

Or, perhaps no matter what the "flip" the North pole should always be considered as "North" requiring a reversal of compass designation.

Dang, I don't know.

[pallidin]

Think of all the world-wide designations of North and South.

For example: North beach, South beach, Northside, Southside.

Not to mention that East becomes West !! West Africa would become East Africa

North America would be designated as South America.

This would be so enormously costly and confusing. North Hampton would have to be changed to South Hampton.

There are a billion similar examples.

I think it's best to just consider North as it currently stands

In short, North should remain North regardless of a pole "flip"

EDIT: Excepting compass and GPS recalibrations. A heck of a lot cheaper, by numerous billions of $$.

Edited October 23, 2014 by pallidin

[pallidin]

Police Officer pursuing vehicle: "Dispatch, I'm traveling Northbound, uh, I mean Southbound. Suspect vehicle has turned East on Blaker street, uh, I mean west.

Ambulance dispatch: "67, there is a heart attack victim on the east side of the Matrix 675 complex, Uh, the west side.

911 call: "Please help, there are intruders in my house, armed, and have killed my husband"

911 dispatcher: Ok, what is your location?

911 call: I'm at North Highway 76 east.

911 dispatcher: Do you mean South Highway, 76 west?

911 call: Oh for God's sake...

Edited October 23, 2014 by pallidin

[Doug1029]

Come to think of it, it would be odd.

Just because the magnetic poles "flip" doesn't mean the earth itself "flips", so the seasonal differences would remain the same.

So, the nomenclature of "North and South" might have to be replaced by some other wording, such as "Up and Down"

Going DOWN to Florida from Canada, as opposed to "going NORTH to Florida from Canada"

Or, perhaps no matter what the "flip" the North pole should always be considered as "North" requiring a reversal of compass designation.

Dang, I don't know.

If "North" refers to the earth's axis and not the magnetic pole, then there should be no need to change nomenclature. It is the declination that is changing, not the axis.

Doug

Edited October 23, 2014 by Doug1029

[zaroaster]

and if the earth starts rotating the opposite way be prepared.gonna be a bumpy ride

[paperdyer]

This affects me how? I'll be dead by then...

Yes, you will be dead, but your descendants will still be here.

Think about it a bit. Since the poles have flipped before, I guess it isn't really a flip as the articles says it can take 100 years to complete, birds may migrate to other places and adapt to their new surroundings. Since we have Canadian Geese living all year round in North Carolina, this may help in diversifying life on the planet.

Does anyone know if Salmon use the magnetic fields to find their way back to their birth stream> If they do humans may have to help them so they can spawn naturally.

[Pendekar Timur]

wow..Himalaya will become a desert and the Sahara will turned to ice,cool..

[JesseCuster]

Come to think of it, it would be odd.

Just because the magnetic poles "flip" doesn't mean the earth itself "flips", so the seasonal differences would remain the same.

So, the nomenclature of "North and South" might have to be replaced by some other wording, such as "Up and Down"

Going DOWN to Florida from Canada, as opposed to "going NORTH to Florida from Canada"

Or, perhaps no matter what the "flip" the North pole should always be considered as "North" requiring a reversal of compass designation.

Dang, I don't know.

The magnetic poles are going to flip, not the geographic poles. North will remain north and south will remain south. Geographic north and south poles are the points between which there's an imaginary line that the earth spins around. They're going nowhere.

Magnetic north and south poles are the poles of the earth's magnetic field. They have been known to flip from time to time (I think it's every few hundred thousand years or so, but it's not a regular pattern).

Edited October 27, 2014 by JesseCuster

[JesseCuster]

Don't forget that the sun's magnetic poles might be about to flip too (connected?).

The sun's magnetic poles flip every 11 years as part of the solar cycle.

It's unconnected with any possible upcoming reversal of the earth's magnetic field which undergoes reversals every few hundred thousand years.

Edited October 27, 2014 by JesseCuster

[JesseCuster]

and if the earth starts rotating the opposite way be prepared.gonna be a bumpy ride

The earth spins because of conservation of angular momentum as a result of how the solar system formed.

It has nothing to do with its magnetic field or the direction of the magnetic field.

Lots of very odd ideas being bandied around in this thread.

Edited October 27, 2014 by JesseCuster