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Sunday 18 August 2019

Maybe if the Earth streamed Red Velvet it wouldn't have a rapidly weakening magnetic shield

If you don't know already, the Earth has a shield that protects us from various things including incoming space debris and solar flares. This shield is known as the magnetic field. The magnetic field radiates from Earth which acts as a massive magnet with the north pole residing in the Arctic while the south pole is in Antarctica. One thing to note about the poles is that we actually have two sets; the geological pole and the magnetic pole. The geological pole never moves while the magnetic one is constantly moving. Scientists suppose that the magnetic pole has moved 685 miles across northern Canada but at the moment has begun to move 25 miles a year northwest and is on it's way for a holiday in Russia's Siberia. This means that we may be in the middle in a polar flip.


Evidence of a flip

At the moment there is a region known as the South Atlantic Anomaly, or SAA for short. The SAA covers up to 1/5 of the Earth's land by stretching from the heart of South Africa, over the South Atlantic, and over into Africa. More specifically, from Chile to Zimbabwe. The SAA has a weakened magnetic field that scientists believe has happened because the magnetic field has already flipped over there. At the moment the size of the SAA doesn't seem to be getting smaller anytime soon.


Along with the SAA is the fact that the strength of the magnetic field has been weakening by five per cent each decade and, although this is fairly normal, it can still raise concern by how long this has been going on and, if you throw in the fact that the Earth is overdue for a polar flip means that we could be approaching a polar flip.

This might sound a bit scary but the chances of an actual flip happening soon is pretty 50/50. At the moment these signs are a bit concerning but none of them completely confirm whether a polar flip will actually happen. But the Earth is overdue for a reversal as it's been roughly 780,000 years since the last one, double the usual time between flips.

What will happen if a polar flip occurs?

Although a polar flip is said to not cause any threats to the world, there are some important parts to consider. The first most important part is the fact that the magnetic field will be weakened which can cause more solar flares and space debris entering the Earth's atmosphere. Solar flares interrupt electric communications which implies situations such as weakened radio communications and, most likely, weakened phone service. It would also mess up our electrical grid if it didn't cause it to go down completely. Solar flares also could cause various genetic mutations meaning I may see you all in Xavier's school for gifted youngsters. This could also affect some animal life on Earth as animals such as sea turtles, bees, various birds, and more, use the magnetic field to navigate.

A polar flip doesn't only affect life on Earth, but also life in space. It's been proven that satellites and space stations that pass over the SAA have to temporarily turn off any electronics such as computers and communicators. If the Earth's magnetic field were to go extremely weak, such as during a polar reversal, it will stop any communication from astronauts to Earth and cause most of our satellites to go down. Because there would be an increase in solar flares it means that not only astronauts but also people on Earth are at a higher chance of cancer.

Why does this happen and should I be worried?

No idea. No, seriously. Scientists don't have a solid theory or reason behind these sudden flips of the north and south pole. However, scientist do think it may be due to changes in the fluid portion of Earth's iron core. It has been proven with evidence such as fossils, that a polar reversal happens roughly every 300,000 years or so. Even though it's been a while since the last flip, the magnetic poles have slowly been increasing in speed and getting faster. Not bad? The symptoms of a polar flip happen even before the actual flip. Still not worried? Last time Earth had a flip, we had 6,000 years of magnetic instability. Doesn't sound like we're all going to die yet? A polar reversal, on average, takes a 100 years to complete. With all of that adding up we're looking at roughly 6,100 years of magnetic instability, excluding time before the flip. 

However, there is a little bit of hope. Recent studies from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science have found that the Earth's magnetic poles have been close to flipping, but then proceeded to get back on track. 

So, Molly,  are we going to all die or not?
Mate, to tell it straight to you. I've got no clue. I'm just a 14 year old writing a blog for my science class so I don't fail the electricity and magnetism unit. There is only so much I can understand and tell you. I've got sources telling me that we ain't gonna die and sources saying "ehh. We might I guess." So I hope you enjoyed reading my blog and I hope that you don't die from solar flares in the future. 

Sources


Any way because you decided to keep reading here's Peek-a-Boo by Red Velvet




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