Sometimes our planet’s magnetic field completely flips. The north and the south magnetic poles swap places. Such reversals, recorded in the magnetism of ancient rocks, are unpredictable. They come at irregular intervals averaging about 300,000 years; the last one was 780,000 years ago. Could we be heading for a geomagnetic reversal that would leave us defenseless against the lethal effects of solar wind and cosmic rays?
\nPlease watch the video-clip https:\/\/youtu.be\/pZrAbjJBde0<\/p>\n
When North goes South
\nName
\nInstitution<\/p>\n
When North goes South
\nThe Earth’s magnetic field changes over time, with the north and south geomagnetic poles changing places with each other in what is known as the geomagnetic reversal. Although it certainly that we could be heading for a geomagnetic reversal, the process will not leave the Earth defenseless against the lethal effects of solar wind and cosmic rays. The geomagnetic reversal happens in intervals of every 250,000 years on average, and with current evidence indicating that the process is the transition phase (Y\u0131lmaz, 2009). The geomagnetic reversal takes hundreds of thousands of years to completely reverse is not likely to render the Earth defenseless, considering that during the reversal, there is no time that the magnetic field can be exactly zero. Additionally, the atmosphere protects the Erath from high energy charged particles more than the magnetic field does, which means magnetic field decline would have a minimum impact on the Earth defense against the effects of solar wind and cosmic rays.
\nHowever, there are various scientific findings that provide that the decline of the magnetic field could result in a planet losing its atmosphere over a period of time due to the erosion from the solar wind, which could require a hundred years to take place. Therefore, the decline of the magnetic field means that the atmosphere protection against cosmic rays will decline, and the probability of bigger problems in the process that the atmosphere is eroded away (NOVA, 2003). Despite the findings, other researchers believe that the magnetosphere, which is the region above the ionosphere, has the capability of protecting the Earth from cosmic rays. Therefore, the impact of the decline of the magnetic field during the geomagnetic reversal can be handled by the magnetosphere, preventing the upper atmosphere that protects the Earth from lethal effects of solar wind and cosmic rays from being stripped away.
\nReferences
\nNOVA. (2003). Magnetic Storm. Retrieved from https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/wgbh\/nova\/magnetic\/about.html
\nY\u0131lmaz, S. (2009). Magnetic Storm \u2013 Trailer. YouTube. Retrieved from https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=pZrAbjJBde0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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