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Question: Is anyone familiar/aware of the possible implications to the global magnetic field? I know magnetic north has been slowly shifting… but as I understa

Question: Is anyone familiar/aware of the possible implications to the global magnetic field? I know magnetic north has been slowly shifting… but as I understand it, this currently involves changing the values on runways (the number on a runway is the degrees per magnetic north)… but that is pretty much it. What happens if magnetic north becomes magnetic south? Is there anything beyond the obvious (compasses and things that rely on compasses) that would be impacted?

greenbit 4y ago
From what I've heard, the problem is that the reversal can take a few years, during which there may be almost no field strength. That, and there's no guarantee about exactly where the new poles will develop, apart from them appearing at relatively high latitudes.
- xattt 4y ago
  > during which there may be almost no field strength Does this increase the susceptibility of the Earth to the effects of solar wind, such as increased radiation at sea level or atmospheric erosion (like on Mars)?
- andai 4y ago
  So during this time, earth would be (more) vulnerable to solar flares and other radiation?
  - david927 4y ago
    Much, much more vulnerable
  - zukzuk 4y ago
    Yes. Very much a hide your kids hide your wife situation.
    - mrexroad 4y ago
      And might even be a hide your parents, hide your husbands situation.
      - ihatepython 4y ago
        And hide your dog, but don't worry about your cat, she can take care of herself.
  - htag 4y ago
    I think that might be an over simplification of the impact of a weakened magnetosphere. The magnetosphere protects the lower levels of the atmosphere from charged particles from the sun and further sources. This isn't just solar flares, but a constant bombardment of energy. Without it the rest of the atmosphere will began to degrade, with specific worry about our ozone layer. Some animals such as birds are shown to relay on the magnetosphere to help navigate. Aside from the changes to ecosystems and climate, the magnetosphere is also responsible for the aurora borealis, so we would miss out on that. On the plus side, we'd finally have enough data to answer questions about what sort of radiation shielding generational spaceships would need, and exactly how much cancer prevention Earth's atmosphere is providing.
    - skedaddle 4y ago
      Do you have an opinion on the Laschamp event? The Wikipedia article for the says the evidence for these ideas is weak in that case. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laschamp_event https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laschamp_event > This loss of the geomagnetic shield is claimed to have contributed to the extinction of Australian megafauna, the extinction of the Neanderthals and the appearance of cave art. However, the lack of corroborating evidence of a causal link between the Laschamp event and population bottlenecks of many megafauna species, and the relatively moderate radio-isotopic changes during the event, have cast significant doubt on the real impact of the Laschamp event on global environmental changes.
    - helloworld11 4y ago
      If the magnetosphere disappeared tomorrow, completely, as it did on Mars at one point, it would take literally billions of years for our atmosphere to totally degrade away. It would take at least tens of millions for it to degrade appreciably. The magnetosphere of Mars failed just 500 million years after our red neighbor formed, and even after the several billion intervening years, and after having started with much less overall atmospheric bulk than Earth, Mars still has some atmosphere left (very little to be sure, but we're talking about billions of years of being bathed in solar wind and radiation). In other words, if our magnetosphere disappeared tomorrow, you likely wouldn't have to worry about major atmospheric failure for many generations of your family's lives. Caveat: Even with the atmosphere fully present, the magnetosphere does indeed stop many charged particles that a gas barrier does not, and this would definitely be an immediate problem to surface life to some extent (how much is debatable however). We'd also be much more susceptible to electronic and electrical grid damage caused by a much larger percentage of solar storms that would have previously been too weak to do much because of our giant magnetic shield..
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
david927 4y ago
Well, it had been slowly shifting around northern Canada for the hundreds of years we have records. Lately, though, it's been moving quite quickly towards Siberia: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/Magnetic_North_Pole_Positions_2015.svg/220px-Magnetic_North_Pole_Positions_2015.svg.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/Ma... I wonder if these two things are related.
zardo 4y ago
> Is there anything beyond the obvious (compasses and things that rely on compasses) that would be impacted? It's unknown how migratory species that sense the magnetic field will be affected. Maybe they easily adjust, maybe there is a massive die-off due to large percentages getting lost.
- klyrs 4y ago
  My utopian fantasy is that all birds would end up at the equator at the same time, have longer than usual holiday, and when the pole flips, they'd fly to the opposite hemisphere that they came from. They'd love the new scenery and I wouldn't need to cross the globe to see a whole new set of birds.
nofreelunch 4y ago
This is discussed at length in this film: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Core https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Core
- Sakos 4y ago
  > while computer hacker Theodore Donald "Rat" Finch is brought on to keep news of the pending disaster or the attempt to restart the core from the Internet. Sigh.
  - throwbadubadu 4y ago
    Can't we just bring the internet box down from Big Ben to basement when the sun comes?
- deafpolygon 4y ago
  What an awesome film. A lesson in absurdity, for sure.
- irrational 4y ago
  Surely you meant to say the documentary.
peter303 4y ago
In 2 billion years, the 2200 km outer core will completely solidify, with the magnetic dynamo halting sometime before then. The solid core is growing/solidifying a millimeter a year. With no magnetic field there will be more harsh radiation at the surface. Plus the solar wind may erode away the atmosphere as has on field-less Mars.
- RHSman2 4y ago
  Sounds like my hair appointment I made is gonna be disrupted (if I have hair in 2 billion years)

greenbit 4y ago

From what I've heard, the problem is that the reversal can take a few years, during which there may be almost no field strength. That, and there's no guarantee about exactly where the new poles will develop, apart from them appearing at relatively high latitudes.

xattt 4y ago
> during which there may be almost no field strength Does this increase the susceptibility of the Earth to the effects of solar wind, such as increased radiation at sea level or atmospheric erosion (like on Mars)?
andai 4y ago
So during this time, earth would be (more) vulnerable to solar flares and other radiation?
- david927 4y ago
  Much, much more vulnerable
- zukzuk 4y ago
  Yes. Very much a hide your kids hide your wife situation.
  - mrexroad 4y ago
    And might even be a hide your parents, hide your husbands situation.
    - ihatepython 4y ago
      And hide your dog, but don't worry about your cat, she can take care of herself.
- htag 4y ago
  I think that might be an over simplification of the impact of a weakened magnetosphere. The magnetosphere protects the lower levels of the atmosphere from charged particles from the sun and further sources. This isn't just solar flares, but a constant bombardment of energy. Without it the rest of the atmosphere will began to degrade, with specific worry about our ozone layer. Some animals such as birds are shown to relay on the magnetosphere to help navigate. Aside from the changes to ecosystems and climate, the magnetosphere is also responsible for the aurora borealis, so we would miss out on that. On the plus side, we'd finally have enough data to answer questions about what sort of radiation shielding generational spaceships would need, and exactly how much cancer prevention Earth's atmosphere is providing.
  - skedaddle 4y ago
    Do you have an opinion on the Laschamp event? The Wikipedia article for the says the evidence for these ideas is weak in that case. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laschamp_event https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laschamp_event > This loss of the geomagnetic shield is claimed to have contributed to the extinction of Australian megafauna, the extinction of the Neanderthals and the appearance of cave art. However, the lack of corroborating evidence of a causal link between the Laschamp event and population bottlenecks of many megafauna species, and the relatively moderate radio-isotopic changes during the event, have cast significant doubt on the real impact of the Laschamp event on global environmental changes.
  - helloworld11 4y ago
    If the magnetosphere disappeared tomorrow, completely, as it did on Mars at one point, it would take literally billions of years for our atmosphere to totally degrade away. It would take at least tens of millions for it to degrade appreciably. The magnetosphere of Mars failed just 500 million years after our red neighbor formed, and even after the several billion intervening years, and after having started with much less overall atmospheric bulk than Earth, Mars still has some atmosphere left (very little to be sure, but we're talking about billions of years of being bathed in solar wind and radiation). In other words, if our magnetosphere disappeared tomorrow, you likely wouldn't have to worry about major atmospheric failure for many generations of your family's lives. Caveat: Even with the atmosphere fully present, the magnetosphere does indeed stop many charged particles that a gas barrier does not, and this would definitely be an immediate problem to surface life to some extent (how much is debatable however). We'd also be much more susceptible to electronic and electrical grid damage caused by a much larger percentage of solar storms that would have previously been too weak to do much because of our giant magnetic shield..
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]

david927 4y ago

Well, it had been slowly shifting around northern Canada for the hundreds of years we have records. Lately, though, it's been moving quite quickly towards Siberia: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/Magnetic_North_Pole_Positions_2015.svg/220px-Magnetic_North_Pole_Positions_2015.svg.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/Ma... I wonder if these two things are related.

zardo 4y ago

> Is there anything beyond the obvious (compasses and things that rely on compasses) that would be impacted? It's unknown how migratory species that sense the magnetic field will be affected. Maybe they easily adjust, maybe there is a massive die-off due to large percentages getting lost.

klyrs 4y ago
My utopian fantasy is that all birds would end up at the equator at the same time, have longer than usual holiday, and when the pole flips, they'd fly to the opposite hemisphere that they came from. They'd love the new scenery and I wouldn't need to cross the globe to see a whole new set of birds.

nofreelunch 4y ago

This is discussed at length in this film: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Core https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Core

Sakos 4y ago
> while computer hacker Theodore Donald "Rat" Finch is brought on to keep news of the pending disaster or the attempt to restart the core from the Internet. Sigh.
- throwbadubadu 4y ago
  Can't we just bring the internet box down from Big Ben to basement when the sun comes?
deafpolygon 4y ago
What an awesome film. A lesson in absurdity, for sure.
irrational 4y ago
Surely you meant to say the documentary.

peter303 4y ago

In 2 billion years, the 2200 km outer core will completely solidify, with the magnetic dynamo halting sometime before then. The solid core is growing/solidifying a millimeter a year. With no magnetic field there will be more harsh radiation at the surface. Plus the solar wind may erode away the atmosphere as has on field-less Mars.

RHSman2 4y ago
Sounds like my hair appointment I made is gonna be disrupted (if I have hair in 2 billion years)