posted on Jun, 28 2009 @ 02:09 PM
Originally posted by Tank2/8
reply to post by brokenheadphonez
Has the earth's polaritys switched in man's life time? I am not trying to deviate. Just very interested in the subject. Its estimated that the
last reversal was 780,000 yrs ago. Will it make earth more vulneralbe to cosmic radiation?
Great question! The magnetosphere from what I've seen appears to be very reactive to other charged bodies or energies in the general vicinity of the
solar system, so not only is it affected by the Sun, there are gamma ray bursts, other planets, random turbulence that our solar system cruises
through..
It's possible I guess, but I'm sure that the lack of technology in the last 780,000 years would have kept humans mostly in the "dark" (hehe) about
it.
Solar radiation always seeps in to the poles, and that energy has to go somewhere. Hmm, what if the balance was tipped and we had a magnetic pole of
Wisconsin or North Korea? LOL! They'd get some really beautiful auroras..
I can't imagine all of the effects..
I want to know how Mars lost it's magnetic field, and I think that is probably what killed that planet. If it was a natural process, it might
suggest that the magnetosphere gradually weakening to nothing and *poof*, disappearing...
I mean, there's many myths and legends that can be interpreted as anecdotal evidence of anything.. (spinning compasses, odd animal behavior, extreme
weather) It could be possible that the ancient Mayans or Egyptians were aware of some of these things (or even contemporary Native peoples, as they
seem to have a deep and spiritual connection to the Earth (well not so much these days... British colonialists, I'm looking at you here..), but we
can only make guesses as to what the ancients really believed. Even today's young and brilliant Chinese minds feel as if "the old ways" are being
pushed aside, even forcefully at times.
But I guess that since only relatively recently (and for a short period of time) we've developed technologies that are capable of detecting (or being
affected by) changes in the Earth's magnetic field that we're only really considering and learning about the effects and we're only seeing the tip
of the iceberg.. The universe is a big place, and I've seen data that I can't really explain without feeling humbled and thinking there's a
whoooole lot we will never understand in our lifetimes.
It's fun to try, though.