The Earth's magnetic field protects life on Earth from cosmic radiation and solar storms. If the Earth's magnetic field weakens or disappears, then the Earth's tens of millions of lives...
The Earth's magnetic field protects life on Earth from cosmic radiation and solar storms. If the Earth's magnetic field weakens or disappears, then the Earth's tens of millions of lives...
According to a report published in the scientific journal Nature: The magnetic north pole is always moving, but the magnetic field is changing faster than scientists had previously predicted.
Today's North Magnetic Pole is moving faster than expected from Canada to Siberia, Russia.
The Earth's magnetic field is generated by the Earth's inner core and is an important part of the Earth's protective layer. The Earth's magnetic field is not completely stable, and its direction and strength can change over time. This change can be found by studying the ancient record of the Earth's magnetic field. By collecting samples from seafloor sediments and rocks, the changes in the magnetization direction in the ferromagnetic minerals in them can be determined, thereby understanding the changes in the direction of the Earth's magnetic field in the past.
When the coronal mass ejected by the sun hits the Earth's magnetic field, magnificent auroras are produced. This is a view of the aurora taken over Iceland.
About 2,800 kilometers below the Earth's surface, the liquid outer core of the Earth's core is constantly flowing, providing power for the invisible geomagnetic field. The roiling conductive magma creates electric charges that determine the location of the magnetic poles and form invisible magnetic lines of force. These magnetic lines of force wrap around the Earth, connecting the north and south magnetic poles.
The interaction between the Earth's core and the magnetic field is very complex. Convection of molten iron and nickel in the outer core causes some places to be extremely magnetic, while others are weakly magnetic. Christopher Davis, an associate professor at the School of Earth and Environment at the University of Leeds in the UK and the lead author of the study, said that the strength of the magnetic field on the Earth's surface varies over time and also changes depending on the location of the Earth's core. In the molten core, "the fluid twists and stretches the magnetic field, and the magnetic field in turn pushes the fluid to resist this twisting."
Recently, scientists at Duke University in the United States used different methods and data to re-evaluate the rate at which the direction of the Earth's magnetic field changes. Their research shows that the direction of the Earth's magnetic field changes more than 10 times faster than previous studies have estimated. The results show that the direction of the Earth's magnetic field has reversed many times over the past 800,000 years, occurring on average once every 5,000 years or so. Each reversal can last for thousands or even tens of thousands of years.
Earth's magnetic field protects our planet from dangerous solar and cosmic rays, like a giant shield: As the poles swap places (or try to), the shield weakens; scientists estimate that it could lose a tenth of its usual strength. The shield could be damaged for centuries as the poles move, bringing hostile radiation closer to Earth's surface in the process. Changes in Earth's interior have weakened the magnetic field over the South Atlantic so much that satellites exposed to the resulting radiation have experienced memory failures. Direct harm and impact on Earth's communication systems: The danger is not just to Earth's creatures. The huge networked electronic systems that have become the central processing system of modern civilization will face serious disasters. Solar high-energy particles can tear apart the sensitive microelectronics of the increasing number of satellites orbiting the Earth, severely damaging them. Satellite timing systems that manage the power grid are likely to fail. Transformers for the power grid may burn out en masse. Because the power grids are tightly coupled to each other, global communication systems collapse, navigation fails, migratory birds and animals lose their navigation, and electronic communication satellite equipment signals are transmitted. Failures will spread around the world, causing domino-like blackouts that may last for decades. And a threat to the continued development of human civilization.