Jump to content
Join the Unexplained Mysteries community today! It's free and setting up an account only takes a moment.
- Sign In or Create Account -

Magnetic field


Damien99

Recommended Posts

 

I don't know if we should be worried .....  But I do know that the earth's crust is a record of many past magnetic field reversals.   I believe there is weakening in between reversals ?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

True, the Earth's magnetic field weakens before a polarity reversal. We know too little about the long-term history of the field. We can't say if this weak patch in eastern South America, the South Atlantic Ocean, and now, western Africa is merely a passing variation, or that it heralds a reversal. The Earth's magnetic field as a whole has been weakening very gradually over most of the past two centuries.  

Edited by bison
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, bison said:

True, the Earth's magnetic field weakens before a polarity reversal. We know too little about the long-term history of the field. We can't say if this weak patch in eastern South America, the South Atlantic Ocean, and now, western Africa is merely a passing variation, or that it heralds a reversal. The Earth's magnetic field as a whole has been weakening very gradually for the past two centuries.  

What would happen if the poles would flip, concerning humans

Edited by Damien99
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 Humans weren't on the scene during the last pole reversal, some three-quarters of a  million years ago. Please read the linked NASA article, below, with care. It explains about magnetic pole reversals, and how they have occurred many times in Earth's history. They have had no discernible effect on life in the past.

https://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012-poleReversal.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, bison said:

 Humans weren't on the scene during the last pole reversal, some three-quarters of a  million years ago. Please read the linked NASA article, below, with care. It explains about magnetic pole reversals, and how they have occurred many times in Earth's history. They have had no discernible effect on life in the past.

https://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012-poleReversal.html

But if humans were not around how do they know if would have no effect on us? And if this is happening during this time how long does this time. Is it shortly or hundreds of years from now 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The article I recommended covers your second question. Please read it thoroughly, and consider its implications. It is a reasonable inference that as living creatures were not discernibly affected by past pole reversals, that we would not be so affected by one in the future.  

Edited by bison
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, lightly said:

I don't know if we should be worried .....  But I do know that the earth's crust is a record of many past magnetic field reversals.   I believe there is weakening in between reversals ?

To borrow from another thread, I am more worried about the grizzly bear in our face right now than the mountain lion that lives over the hill.  I also think bison has a good approach and mentioned a good article.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

45 minutes ago, bison said:

The article I recommended covers your second question. Please read it thoroughly, and consider its implications. It is a reasonable inference that as living creatures were not discernibly affected by past pole reversals, that we would not be so affected by one in the future.  

How far future 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please refer to my post, #3 in this thread. We lack the knowledge to predict the future of Earth's magnetic field.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Imean possibly in our lifetime like now or past our lifetimes?

Edited by Damien99
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Again, the NASA article I linked in post #6, this thread, covers this question quite well. Magnetic field pole reversals are long-term affairs. If the current South Atlantic anomaly is the start of a pole reversal, it will presumably take hundreds, if not thousands of years to complete itself. We could be in the midst of a pole reversal right now.

Alternately, the anomaly might  persist , or fade away, without a pole reversal occurring. We know too little to say what will happen. There is not a scientific consensus on this point. In science, as in life, generally, there is a certain amount of ambiguity. Tolerating that ambiguity gracefully is desirable for peace of mind.   

Link to comment
Share on other sites

48 minutes ago, bison said:

Again, the NASA article I linked in post #6, this thread, covers this question quite well. Magnetic field pole reversals are long-term affairs. If the current South Atlantic anomaly is the start of a pole reversal, it will presumably take hundreds, if not thousands of years to complete itself. We could be in the midst of a pole reversal right now.

Alternately, the anomaly might  persist , or fade away, without a pole reversal occurring. We know too little to say what will happen. There is not a scientific consensus on this point. In science, as in life, generally, there is a certain amount of ambiguity. Tolerating that ambiguity gracefully is desirable for peace of mind.   

So we still have time then even if it was in the midst of one 

 

is it true this can effect earth acis or rotation also I have read that this can be extinction event.

Edited by Damien99
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Damien99 said:

 

is it true this can effect earth acis or rotation also I have read that this can be extinction event.

Nope. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, bison said:

 Humans weren't on the scene during the last pole reversal, some three-quarters of a  million years ago. Please read the linked NASA article, below, with care. It explains about magnetic pole reversals, and how they have occurred many times in Earth's history. They have had no discernible effect on life in the past.

https://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012-poleReversal.html

Hi Bison

True Hss was not around at that time but our ancestors were and I would suggest that any magnetic reversal would have little biological effect on humans but do wonder if it would affect our tech significantly.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaic_humans

jmccr8

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, genus Homo has been around for at least 2.8 million years. Homo Sapiens for around 300,000. No apparent harm done to the former by magnetic pole shifts. Just how the Earth's magnetic field would behave while it was switching polarity isn't clear. It's a complex and little understood problem.  The field could break up into separate, ever-changing magnetic domains. Some areas could be weaker than the normal field, some stronger, for all we know.

Whatever happened, in the past, it doesn't seem to have done much harm. I suspect that, overall, the level of protection offered by the Earth's magnetic field wasn't so very different than it is today. Then, too, perhaps the atmosphere became more heavily ionized, with more solar radiation getting through to it. This could have offered certain protections, by itself. 

Would our electronic gadgetry suffer in a pole reversal? Perhaps. Certain adaptations might be necessary, like decoupling long- line electric power grids, at times when solar flares were active. These can carry electric currents, induced in them by solar flares, to destructive effect.  Such precautions wouldn't be a bad idea in any case. Even today, solar flares can get through to the surface and cause such problems. Better shielded satellites could also be a good idea, in a low magnetic field era.   

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

5 hours ago, Damien99 said:

So we still have time then even if it was in the midst of one 

is it true this can effect earth acis or rotation also I have read that this can be extinction event.

There have been 183 pole reversals in the last 83 million years. If it was an extinction event we wouldn't be here as our ancestors would have been killed several times over. 

What is it with you allways trying to come up with new end times scenarios ?

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

20 hours ago, hetrodoxly said:

You'll have to have your compass recalibrated.

 

         A lot of animals, most animals?, do have tiny magnets in their heads?   I know people do.    So, any way, I wonder what effect a pole reversal might have on migrating animals....Flocks of Geese for example?  

Will retirees end up in Michigan for the winter instead of Florida?   :P

  • Haha 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/31/2020 at 3:18 AM, hetrodoxly said:

You'll have to have your compass recalibrated.

Just turn maps upside down

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.