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Earth's magnetic field is changing in other ways, too: Compass needles in Africa, for instance, are drifting about 1 degree per decade. And globally the magnetic field has weakened 10% since the 19th century. When this was mentioned by researchers at a recent meeting of the American Geophysical Union, many newspapers carried the story. A typical headline: "Is Earth's magnetic field collapsing?"
Probably not. As remarkable as these changes sound, "they're mild compared to what Earth's magnetic field has done in the past," says University of California professor Gary Glatzmaier.
According to Glatzmaier, the ongoing 10% decline doesn't mean that a reversal is imminent. "The field is increasing or decreasing all the time," he says. "We know this from studies of the paleomagnetic record." Earth's present-day magnetic field is, in fact, much stronger than normal. The dipole moment, a measure of the intensity of the magnetic field, is now 8 × 1022 amps × m2. That's twice the million-year average of 4× 1022 amps × m2.
ESA/NASA's solar watchdog, SOHO, is back to full operation after its predicted 9-day-long high-gain antenna blackout. Engineers and scientists are now confident that they understand the situation and can work around it in the future to minimise the data losses. Since 19 June 2003, SOHO's high-gain antenna (HGA), which transmits high-speed data to Earth, has been fixed in position following the discovery of a malfunction in its pointing mechanism. This resulted in a loss of signal through SOHO's usual 26-metre ground stations on 27 June 2003. However, 34-metre radio dishes continued to receive high-speed transmissions from the HGA until 1 July 2003.
Originally posted by questioningall
I will post things as I see fit.
Originally posted by questioningall
Especially since our magnetic field seems to not be doing it's job correctly!!
Originally posted by questioningall
reply to post by operation mindcrime
I don't normally reply to you, because of what you post, but I will go ahead and reply this time.
Do you see the heading of this thread?
Well look at some of the headings of other threads that are ongoing, those are the market watch thread - which has been around a very long time because it is the continuation and watch of the market.
Do you go into that thread and ask why they are bumping it?
I doubt it, so why would you do that in this thread?
Oh, I know - because you seem to only be able to post immature comments on anything!
The Magnetosphere if you read the OP - is worth watching and that is what this thread is.
So, there is your answer. If you aren't interested in it, then don't worry about coming in also you will see it was started a few months back - so it is an ongoing thread.
I will post things as I see fit. Especially since our magnetic field seems to not be doing it's job correctly!!
Have an awesome day!! This will probably be my last post, directly acknowledging you or anything you post. I am very good at just bypassing all of your comments now
as I just shake my head and laugh at them.
Originally posted by czacza1
reply to post by questioningall
star and flag once again.
great thread. and the simulation is really working on imagination.
Originally posted by operation mindcrime
reply to post by questioningall
Just one more thing Q and then i'll be out of your hair....
I was just re-reading the last few pages of this thread and in your reply to Chadwickus on page 16 you [quote] [/quote] a couple of articles with the title being "www.popularmechanics.com..." and a sniplet of the article, or so we think, because most of us just read the sniplet instead of going to the site and reading the article which should backup your defence...
If you would look at the article then you would notice that:
a: ) It's an article from august 2004 (somebody already pointed this out i believe?)
b: ) You are not quoting from the article but the reader comment section
What's up with that?? I could add to the readers comment section that i believe the earth is in fact flat but that don't make it so, does it??
Please tell me i've got it all wrong!!!
Peace
edit: It's hard not being english and trying to make a point without typos...sorry about that!!
[edit on 5/8/2009 by operation mindcrime]
because you seem to only be able to post immature comments on anything!
Now look at the second picture - notice the clear circle area is not there.
Also notice how it is yellowish too - from the solar wind
.....
I e-mailed the Space Weather Prediction Center to see if there was any truth to it.
It is not only the direction but also the strength of this magnetic field that is a concern. In the time of dinosaurs, at an estimated 2.5 gauss, it was eighty percent stronger than it is now. This may have been one of the reasons such gigantic life forms thrived. It is now accepted that a catastrophic event ended the reign of giant reptiles. However, they did not re-evolve to equivalent dimensions. And the disappearance of mammalian “mega-fauna” in more recent times is still considered to be a mystery. The mastodons and mammoths would have towered over modern elephants. Why are there so few large terrestrial animals today?
The weakening of earth’s magnetism is one of the factors believed to be predictive of a pole reversal. That magnetic field reversals have occurred in the past is confirmed in the geological record. What is unclear is how precisely the transition occurs, and what happens to life forms extant at the time of this pole flip.
Does the magnetic field drop to zero gauss? Dire predictions follow upon the heels of this theory. Electronic devices would all be at risk: there may be damage to, or complete loss of, all near-earth-orbiting satellites and possibly the space station itself. Effects on life forms could range from migrating birds losing their sense of direction to immune system decline and even widespread die-off from radiation-induced cancers.
Losing its protective magnetic envelope, the atmosphere would expand and become thinner, possibly leading to altitude sickness near sea level. No longer filtered out, deadly cosmic rays would kill most if, not all, living creatures on the surface. Only those living in deep caves would be safe. This scenario has prompted some to build underground bunkers in hopes of surviving.
Countering this frightening vision, NASA predicts that, rather than declining to zero gauss, the magnetic field would become disordered. Thus we might for short time have more than one north and south pole on the planet. This official scientific stance says that the magnetosphere which shields us from cosmic radiation would not entirely disappear either. Thus, while communications would be erratic and perhaps at times completely inactivated, humans would find ways to survive. However, there are dissenters in the ranks, pointing to the vast South Atlantic magnetic anomaly and radiation damage to satellites over that region attributed to weakening of the protective magnetosphere. (4)
Originally posted by questioningall
Above you will find, it is acknowledged that our magnetosphere has weakened and as NASA says it would become Disordered instead of going down to 0.