Earth's magnetic poles on verge of flipping

World Net Daily ^ | December 12, 2003

[gitmo]

The Earth's magnetic field is weakening, and that could lead to a flip in the planet's poles making compasses point south instead of north for the first time in almost a million years, say scientists.

Experts at the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco say the field has declined 10 percent in the last 150 years, and suggest a reversal could lead to problems in navigation and a jump in cancer rates with a diminished ozone layer.

"Is a reversal coming? Yeah, it's coming for sure – sometime,'' said geologist Robert Coe of the University of California-Santa Cruz, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

Physicists say the average period between pole flips is about 200,000 years, and the last one is believed to have taken place 780,000 years ago, making the next swap long overdue.

According to Harvard University's Jeremy Bloxham, the field could disappear completely within the next 2,000 years if the rate of decline remains constant, but he's not certain if the poles will actually reverse.

"Chances are this is going to die out," he said, reports the San Mateo County Times. "Reversals are pretty rare."

If a flip did take place, it would be over the course of several thousand years, and scientists say it would likely reduce the protective ozone layer, cause glitches in satellites and electronic products, and create a flurry of navigational anomalies as compasses would "cease to be a simple means of navigation," according to Bloxham.

The consequences would be the same if a reversal takes place or the field continues to diminish, with one researcher estimating an additional 100,000 cancer cases annually as people would be subject to more of the sun's harmful rays.

[T'wit]

Good. Everybody will die and we don't have to worry about global warming.

[martin_fierro]

My tinfoil hat is already calibrated. I am prepared.

[RandyRep]

Geez, the UN has to do something quick about this...

It MUST BE electro-magnetic emissions that is causing this.

I know, we could have a Sapporo treaty to reduce radio broadcasts, TV signals, telephone, garage door opener, TV remotes, wireless computer networks, electrical power plants, etc. back to year 1900 levels in order to save our planet.

Oh, wait, perhaps a better sunscreen will solve the problem?

[tubebender]

The late Emil Sepic from here in Eureka wrote a lot on this subject. While doing a google for Emil I came across This

[the invisib1e hand]

everybody hold on!

[Kirkwood]

So has the left blamed President Bush yet?

[Petronski]

If a flip did take place, it would be over the course of several thousand years, and scientists say it would likely reduce the protective ozone layer, cause glitches in satellites and electronic products, and create a flurry of navigational anomalies as compasses would "cease to be a simple means of navigation," according to Bloxham.

WTF is the point of this article?

[scott7278]

If we get everybody to jump at the same time, we might be able to stop it.

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

How will this effect that nuke powered Lightning Gun of Eakers, and it's power ZOT?

[hole_n_one]

Meow!.......................Meow!

[spectre]

"WTF is the point of this article?"

Exactly!

[scott7278]

From the article you linked to, concerning a comet crash being the end of the world:

"A comet or asteroid collides with Earth, and we're all killed or at least seriously shook up. In 1954, for example, a meteorite crashed through the roof of a house in Sylacauga, Alabama, bounced off a radio, and hit a woman on the hip."

Compelling.

[Kirkwood]

So if the magnetic field flip will have an effect on the ozone layer, and the the magnetic field is emitted from the south pole, and if the ozone hole is over the south pole, could there be some causal link between the two??? Maybe the fluctuating ozone hole is entirely natural and just an early indicator of the weakening magnetic field that is making the upper atomosphere more suspectible to solar radiation? Something for conservative scientists to look into.

[tubebender]

I am out of tin foil so I didn't dare read the article...Was there a short audio when you opened it?

[tubebender]

That only works when your parachute doesn't open...

[Reagan is King]

If we'd only signed the Kyoto accord all this could have been prevented...

/sarcasm>

[scott7278]

I didn't hear anything with Mozilla, so I tried it with Internet Explorer. It says, "We tell you only what you need to know."

[Mike Darancette]

The UN must convene a conference and investigate the effect of electric generation and transmission on the Earth's magnetic field.

It surely must be the fault of the developed world and the USA in particular. The USA must pay and pay!

[scott7278]

I've got a theory...the UN knows about it, and that's why they want control of the Internet. From now on, I'm tethering myself to everything. I'm not going to drive anywhere, just walk, and tether myself to anything stationary along the way. I'll crouch low to the ground to have the best possible balance.

When people look at me funny, I'll just laugh at them and scream "Idiots -- we're about to flip!"

It's going to take alot of rope.