Posted on 11/09/2002 5:59:37 PM PST by Pokey78
Just wondering if these are similar to the computer models used to predict global warming. Programmer subcontracting?
Welcome to the next "scare the people" subject search.
Exactly! Think of the children!
Yes you are correct. The point that most seem to be missing is there are two potential events being discussed here...
1. Actual physical changes in the rotation character of the entire planet.
2. A change on the magnetic field of the planet.
One would be catastrophic, two would be a nuisance but not "earth shattering." Since the magnetic poles are established and maintained by the interaction of the solid inner core and the fluid outer core, changes occurring there, (flow rate/direction, inner core rotation speed, etc) would have little effect on the physical rotation of the entire planet.
Essentially, Item two does not cause item one to occur..
LOL!
Scientific maverick's theory on Earth's core up for a test
SF Chronicle ^ | Monday, November 29, 2004 | Keay Davidson
Posted on 12/05/2004 11:17:28 AM PST by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1294934/posts
This is probably developed by the same idiots who advertise the "free" energy machines using the earth's magnetic fields in the popular science mags.
Kerry had a plan.
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992152
Anomalies hint at magnetic pole flip
Nicola Jones
19:00 10 April 02
from New Scientist Print Edition
The Earth's magnetic poles might be starting to flip say researchers who have seen strange anomalies in our planet's magnetic field.
The magnetic field is created by the flow of molten iron inside the Earth's core. These circulation patterns are affected by the planet's rotation, so the field normally aligns with the Earth's axis - forming the north and south poles.
But the way minerals are aligned in ancient rock shows that the planet's magnetic dipole occasionally disappears altogether, leaving a much more complicated field with many poles all over the planet. When the dipole comes back into force, the north and south poles can swap places.
The last reversal happened about 780,000 years ago, over a period of several thousand years. Now Gauthier Hulot from the Institute of Earth Sciences in Paris and his colleagues think they have spotted early signs of another reversal.
South African anomaly
They used data from the Ørsted satellite to study strange variations in the Earth's magnetic field. In particular, one large patch under South Africa is pointing in the opposite direction from the rest of the Earth's field and has been growing for hundreds of years.
The anomalies have already reduced the overall strength of the planet's magnetic field by about 10 per cent. If they continue to grow at the same rate, the Earth's dipole will disappear within just two millennia.
But Ørsted is the first satellite to take a snapshot of the Earth's magnetic field for 20 years, and such scant data makes it difficult to predict future shifts.
"We can't really tell what will happen," says Hulot. "But we speculate that we're in an unusual situation that might be related to a reversal."
Journal reference: Nature (vol 416, p 620)
Reversals do not happen on any regular schedule, but at widely varying intervals.
We have no idea how long it takes for a reversal to happens, but 1000 years would be a reasonable guess, with a huge error factor.
This may affect how I buy real estate...
In 12th grade my friend spent two days of Physics class expounding on "The Hab Theory," a theory borrowed from a novel explaining how the earth was going to flip over soon. It's one of the few things I remember from that class, except for my other friend who used to spend the class reading the newspaper in the front row.
Has anyone stated the obligatory..."This is Bush's fault"?
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