Earth's magnetic field currently weakening 10,000x faster than expected

[barbos]

Yeah, Collaborating with Russia would give McCain constipation, nobody wants that.

 

[4321lynx]

Russia will, as long as US stop pissing off them over issues like NATO expansion/Ukraine.

Collaborating with Russia as an equal partner would not be politically possible over here, same with collaborating with China.

Why? The USA c0llaborated with Stalin's Soviets when it had to. You think Putin & Co are worse than that?

 

[steve_bnk]

Collaborating with Russia as an equal partner would not be politically possible over here, same with collaborating with China.

Why? The USA c0llaborated with Stalin's Soviets when it had to. You think Putin & Co are worse than that?

We did not collaborate with Stalin, we provded siupplies allowing the Russians and Germans to slaughter each other.

Macain's and Graham's heads would explode at the thought.

 

[Bronzeage]

Doesn't the earth's magnetic field periodically flip polarity also? My recall is not all that fantastic, since this is a curiosity rather than a field of study, but I seem to recall that it's something that occurs once in a while over a very long span, something like once every few million years or so.

Yes, it does and has. There is uncertainty as to how long it takes and the results of such a flip. The greatest science worry is that it will spark a massive zombie apocalypse.

We will have to reverse the color scheme on all the compass needles.

 

[skepticalbip]

Yes, it does and has. There is uncertainty as to how long it takes and the results of such a flip. The greatest science worry is that it will spark a massive zombie apocalypse.

We will have to reverse the color scheme on all the compass needles.

And Santa will have to relocate his toy factory and elves. The question is if reindeer can adapt to life in Antarctica when it becomes the new north pole.

 

[rjh01]

We will have to reverse the color scheme on all the compass needles.

And Santa will have to relocate his toy factory and elves. The question is if reindeer can adapt to life in Antarctica when it becomes the new north pole.

No, you have it all wrong. Santa has received an order to move to the Earth's North magnetic pole. This is currently located near the South pole. So instead of moving there he is moving the pole so that the Earth's north magnetic pole is near the north pole.

In case someone does not understand let me spell everything out. The north pole of a magnet is attracted to a south pole of another magnet. If you imagine the Earth as a magnet then the north pole of a magnet will point to the Earth's south pole which is currently located near the North pole.

 

[Bronzeage]

And Santa will have to relocate his toy factory and elves. The question is if reindeer can adapt to life in Antarctica when it becomes the new north pole.

No, you have it all wrong. Santa has received an order to move to the Earth's North magnetic pole. This is currently located near the South pole. So instead of moving there he is moving the pole so that the Earth's north magnetic pole is near the north pole.

In case someone does not understand let me spell everything out. The north pole of a magnet is attracted to a south pole of another magnet. If you imagine the Earth as a magnet then the north pole of a magnet will point to the Earth's south pole which is currently located near the North pole.

A blatant attempt at hemisphereism. Compasses point north and that's the way it's always been.

 

[4321lynx]

Why? The USA c0llaborated with Stalin's Soviets when it had to. You think Putin & Co are worse than that?

We did not collaborate with Stalin, we provded siupplies allowing the Russians and Germans to slaughter each other.

Macain's and Graham's heads would explode at the thought.

The hidden intent of the collaboration does not alter the fact of the collaboration.

 

[Valjean]

How many species rely on sensing the magnetic field?

Migratory birds only I think. But I think they will have time to adapt to use Sun and weaker magnetic field.
Magnetic field inversion happens every 500K years, these birds survived previous ones just fine.
The really scary thing would be Yellow Stone eruption. Basically US is no more if it happens.
And unlike asteroid there is nothing you can do to prevent it.

Lots of species use the magnetic field, but if flips were serious enough to completely confuse them they'd have gone extinct.

Turtles have been around for 220 million years. They range all over the world but to lay eggs they always return to their natal beach. Through hundreds of polarity shifts they've managed to find their proper beaches.

 

[bilby]

The magnetic pole has been located in Northern Canada for a long time; but since about the turn of the 21st Century, its drift has accelerated dramatically, and it is now moving rapidly over the Arctic Ocean towards Russia.

Many hypotheses have been suggested for this sudden change, but my favourite is the 'Fridge Magnets' hypothesis. For a long time, fridge magnets were mostly located in the USA, and the cumulative effects of millions of these magnets has drawn the magnetic pole away from the rotational pole, towards the US. However with the collapse of the communist bloc in the 1990s, and the subsequent rebuilding of the Russian economy, many Russians now own both refrigerators and, more significantly, the magnets that adorn them. This has resulted in a re-balancing of the magnetic field, and the magnetic pole has, as a result, moved rapidly towards Siberia.

I urge all Americans to do their bit by purchasing as many fridge magnets as possible, to counteract the Russian theft of our electromagnetic field. It is your patriotic duty, if you love freedom!













This message partly funded by the American Association of Fridge Magnet and Tchotchke Manufacturers

 

[steve_bnk]

Evolution will kick in.

A percentage of a population will have it backwards. When it flips they will be the new normal and repopulate replacing the others.

 

[barbos]

The magnetic pole has been located in Northern Canada for a long time; but since about the turn of the 21st Century, its drift has accelerated dramatically, and it is now moving rapidly over the Arctic Ocean towards Russia.

Many hypotheses have been suggested for this sudden change, but my favourite is the 'Fridge Magnets' hypothesis. For a long time, fridge magnets were mostly located in the USA, and the cumulative effects of millions of these magnets has drawn the magnetic pole away from the rotational pole, towards the US. However with the collapse of the communist bloc in the 1990s, and the subsequent rebuilding of the Russian economy, many Russians now own both refrigerators and, more significantly, the magnets that adorn them. This has resulted in a re-balancing of the magnetic field, and the magnetic pole has, as a result, moved rapidly towards Siberia.

I urge all Americans to do their bit by purchasing as many fridge magnets as possible, to counteract the Russian theft of our electromagnetic field. It is your patriotic duty, if you love freedom!

This is nonsense, fridge magnets are randomly oriented which makes their resulting field much smaller.
Also they are stuck on the steel doors of the fridge which shield dipole moment of the field to almost zero.
And even if all fridge magnets are placed outside of the steel doors and get properly oriented you would still not notice it because to notice it you would have to place them with density about 1 magnet per square foot to have measurable effect on magnetic field of the Earth.

 

[bilby]

The magnetic pole has been located in Northern Canada for a long time; but since about the turn of the 21st Century, its drift has accelerated dramatically, and it is now moving rapidly over the Arctic Ocean towards Russia.

Many hypotheses have been suggested for this sudden change, but my favourite is the 'Fridge Magnets' hypothesis. For a long time, fridge magnets were mostly located in the USA, and the cumulative effects of millions of these magnets has drawn the magnetic pole away from the rotational pole, towards the US. However with the collapse of the communist bloc in the 1990s, and the subsequent rebuilding of the Russian economy, many Russians now own both refrigerators and, more significantly, the magnets that adorn them. This has resulted in a re-balancing of the magnetic field, and the magnetic pole has, as a result, moved rapidly towards Siberia.

I urge all Americans to do their bit by purchasing as many fridge magnets as possible, to counteract the Russian theft of our electromagnetic field. It is your patriotic duty, if you love freedom!

This is nonsense, fridge magnets are randomly oriented which makes their resulting field much smaller.
Also they are stuck on the steel doors of the fridge which shield dipole moment of the field to almost zero.
And even if all fridge magnets are placed outside of the steel doors and get properly oriented you would still not notice it because to notice it you would have to place them with density about 1 magnet per square foot to have measurable effect on magnetic field of the Earth.

OK smarty pants; what do YOU think is causing the pole to accelerate towards Siberia, if not fridge magnets??

 

[barbos]

This is nonsense, fridge magnets are randomly oriented which makes their resulting field much smaller.
Also they are stuck on the steel doors of the fridge which shield dipole moment of the field to almost zero.
And even if all fridge magnets are placed outside of the steel doors and get properly oriented you would still not notice it because to notice it you would have to place them with density about 1 magnet per square foot to have measurable effect on magnetic field of the Earth.

OK smarty pants; what do YOU think is causing the pole to accelerate towards Siberia, if not fridge magnets??

Randomness of the process of the convection in the Earth interior

 

[bilby]

OK smarty pants; what do YOU think is causing the pole to accelerate towards Siberia, if not fridge magnets??

Randomness of the process of the convection in the Earth interior

That's just silly. The Earth's interior is really hot. Not only would your shopping list catch fire if you attached it to the Earth's interior, but your beer would be undrinkably warm.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

The magnetic pole has been located in Northern Canada for a long time; but since about the turn of the 21st Century, its drift has accelerated dramatically, and it is now moving rapidly over the Arctic Ocean towards Russia.

Many hypotheses have been suggested for this sudden change, but my favourite is the 'Fridge Magnets' hypothesis. For a long time, fridge magnets were mostly located in the USA, and the cumulative effects of millions of these magnets has drawn the magnetic pole away from the rotational pole, towards the US. However with the collapse of the communist bloc in the 1990s, and the subsequent rebuilding of the Russian economy, many Russians now own both refrigerators and, more significantly, the magnets that adorn them. This has resulted in a re-balancing of the magnetic field, and the magnetic pole has, as a result, moved rapidly towards Siberia.

I urge all Americans to do their bit by purchasing as many fridge magnets as possible, to counteract the Russian theft of our electromagnetic field. It is your patriotic duty, if you love freedom!

This is nonsense, fridge magnets are randomly oriented which makes their resulting field much smaller.
Also they are stuck on the steel doors of the fridge which shield dipole moment of the field to almost zero.
And even if all fridge magnets are placed outside of the steel doors and get properly oriented you would still not notice it because to notice it you would have to place them with density about 1 magnet per square foot to have measurable effect on magnetic field of the Earth.

You are clearly not accounting for the rise in stainless steel refrigerators. Those are less magnetic which forces people to stuff their magnets in a kitchen drawer, which helps to magnify the magnet affect through a process call nanohiggism.

 

[Bomb#20]

No, you have it all wrong. Santa has received an order to move to the Earth's North magnetic pole. This is currently located near the South pole. So instead of moving there he is moving the pole so that the Earth's north magnetic pole is near the north pole.

In case someone does not understand let me spell everything out. The north pole of a magnet is attracted to a south pole of another magnet. If you imagine the Earth as a magnet then the north pole of a magnet will point to the Earth's south pole which is currently located near the North pole.

A blatant attempt at hemisphereism. Compasses point north and that's the way it's always been.

For hundreds of millions of years, the magnetic poles have been traded back and forth by the Earth's north and south poles. Enough already! All the advanced planets have gone to proportional representation! End the domination of the two-hemisphere system! It's long past time we gave the east pole or the west pole a turn.

 

[Bronzeage]

A blatant attempt at hemisphereism. Compasses point north and that's the way it's always been.

For hundreds of millions of years, the magnetic poles have been traded back and forth by the Earth's north and south poles. Enough already! All the advanced planets have gone to proportional representation! End the domination of the two-hemisphere system! It's long past time we gave the east pole or the west pole a turn.

While we're at it, let's make every hour 90 minutes long, so there can be three half hours.

 

[bilby]

For hundreds of millions of years, the magnetic poles have been traded back and forth by the Earth's north and south poles. Enough already! All the advanced planets have gone to proportional representation! End the domination of the two-hemisphere system! It's long past time we gave the east pole or the west pole a turn.

While we're at it, let's make every hour 90 minutes long, so there can be three half hours.

That's a great idea. It would also save time by allowing people to drive at 90km/h in built up areas, without letting them go any faster than they do now, so the road safety people wouldn't get upset.

 

[Emily Lake]

In actual fact if the Earth's magnetic field flipped over now then the main problem would be the fate of modern technology.

I think I must be having a premature senior moment. Why would there be a risk to modern technology? I understand that magnetism and electricity interact... but why should my cell phone, for example, give to shakes about the orientation of the planet's magnetosphere, provided it exists? Is it strong enough to matter if it even ceased to exist?

ETA: Sorry to disrupt you guy's humorous ramblings with srs bsns.