Talk:Geomagnetic reversal
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[edit] Request
Could anyone put in some information about the effects a polar reversal would have on humanity?
I agree - info in Magnetic polarity reversal should be merged into this article. -Vsmith 02:52, 16 August 2005 (UTC)
Agree Stevelinton 22:02, 26 August 2005 (UTC)
I am also wondering about the affect of such an event on computer storage - sureley a entire REVERSAL would cause every bit of data in the world to be corrupted? Thoughts? Any experts out there! Sounds like we are due for one :|
- The Earth's magnetic field is very weak: around 30 to 70 microteslas at the surface. Compare this range of values to strengths of other types of magnets to get an idea (Tesla). Thus, a polarity reversal would have no tangible effect on magnetic storage media. Furthermore, the current decrease in the strenght of the Earth's field is not likely to be a precursor to a reversal. It is most likely natural variability. For further information: Constable, C. and M. Korte, 2006. Is Earth's magnetic field reversing? Phys. Earth Planet. Inter. 246, 1-16. --Octupole 01:33, 3 July 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Typo
Changed "casual mechanisms" to "causal mechanisms"
[edit] About "Future of the present field"
This section contains an error. It says in the first sentence: "...cause the field to disappear, albeit temporarily...". This is not true. The geomagnetic field does not disappear during a reversal; not even temporarily. The strength of the field does, however, drop down to 10-20 per cent of the value it has during a period of stable polarity. More specifically, the geomagnetic field has dipole and anomaly parts. The dipole part does, indeed, reverse by going through zero (no dipolar field) but the anomaly part (the field of higher multipoles) does not disappear.--Octupole 22:40, 16 December 2005 (UTC)
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[edit] Recent PBS documentary
Last night a PBS documentary aired on television that proposed that the Earth's magnetic field is decreasing at a much faster rate than what we currently suspect. (It predicts the field could collapse by the end of this century.) Is there any new evidence to substantiate this claim? Spectheintro 14:40, 25 October 2006 (UTC)spectheintro
- That NOVA first aired in 2003. You can look for new evidence by finding research by the people named in the documentary, then looking for references to that research. Google Scholar may find something recent. (SEWilco 18:14, 27 October 2006 (UTC))
- It's not so much of a reversal as an excursion or nonexistence. Information about this seems more suited to the pages on geomagnetic excursion or Earth's magnetic field. Hyacinth 09:21, 13 January 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Query
I looked on http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/env99/env034.htm and it says that the magnetic field does not protect the earth from solar flares. Apparently it just guides the ions of the solar wind to the north and south pole, where they produce the Northern and Southern Lights. Am I missing something?
[edit] Movement of magnetic pole
I have a question regarding the present field. If the magnetic north and south pole are moving at a rate of 40km a year and in a few thousand years, they will have switched completely; In half that amount of time, will the equator run through what is now the arctic and antarctic? And will this effect temperatures there? (Aindriú Conroy 12:30, 09 January 2007
- The location of the magnetic poles is not known to be connected to the poles which are the axis of rotation of the Earth. If the poles moved to the equator yesterday, the planet would still be spinning the same way. The north pole of rotation would still be in the Arctic Ocean and the south pole of rotation would still be in the Antarctic. (SEWilco 02:53, 10 January 2007 (UTC))
[edit] Effects of geomagnetic reversal
What are the effects, rather than causes, of geomagnetic reversal? Hyacinth 09:24, 13 January 2007 (UTC)
- The effects are poorly known. Perhaps someone else can cite studies, but for sure we know that, for example, mass extinctions do not coincide with reversals (not even minor spikes in extinctions, as far as I know). Of course, complex modern human brains have not been present for a reversal in the past, nor have the complex electromagnetic gadgets our modern society depends on. Good question. Geologyguy 15:58, 13 January 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Image
Hi. What happened to the image showing a map, arrows, and flows of magnetism? I think it was on this article, but I'm not sure. If it still exsists, can you link to it? Why was it removed? Was it because there were to many images? Thanks. AstroHurricane001(Talk+Contribs+Ubx) 22:33, 8 February 2007 (UTC)
