To: Robert A. Cook, PE
150 to 300 miles per year ... sounds extreme. Are you sure that is not feet or meters? Does that shift relate to the 'eccentricity' of the Earth's rotation about its axis? If we are discussing extreme 'wobbles' of the nature you seem to be describing, then the Earth way be poised to shift from the trough (Warming trend) between the Wisconsin Glaciation toward the next glacial event... albeit 10,000+ years away.
As for the possible impact of a polarity shift... I think that we may be overlooking rather serious ramifications. The Van Allen Belt which deflects the majority of gamma radiation that emanates from the sun destined for the Earth, is an electromagnetic field that is created by the Earths polarity. If that polarity is neutralized - even for a few days, or weeks or years - the increased radiation impacting the Earth could have quite significant impacts. With that in mind, and I hate to admit, that the scenario presented in The Day After Tomorrow, could be quite ... uh, feasible (With the exception of that Liberty ice rink.)
64 posted on
07/13/2004 1:02:26 PM PDT by
Mr.Atos
To: Mr.Atos
See the graphic immediately above your post: Note how the magnitude of the distance change, and its directions, have changed over recent time.
"Average" distance per year is now very rapid: though I admit I don't know the latest rate exactly.
67 posted on
07/13/2004 1:37:33 PM PDT by
Robert A Cook PE
(I can only donate monthly ... But Kerry's ABBCNNBCBS press corpse lies every day.)
To: Mr.Atos
Also: the magnetic pole switch is not necessarily linked to global warming, nor to the ozone layer changes.
Though it is LIKELY that both will impact it, and the polar switch is LIKELY to affect the other two.
I'm not going to minimize the effect of switching magnetic poles, nor trivialize it.
We just don't know what might happen: though, fortunately, nothing grossly bad happened (except Gore's recession!) due to/at the same time/immediately after the Y2K (lack of) incidents.
68 posted on
07/13/2004 1:41:14 PM PDT by
Robert A Cook PE
(I can only donate monthly ... But Kerry's ABBCNNBCBS press corpse lies every day.)
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