They say it gives you cancer. That it makes the use of electricity
impossible, throwing us back into the Middle Ages. It should turn the
atmosphere into a deadly brew of toxic gases. That's how it goes, when
suddenly, the Earth's magnetic field stops -- and flips over.
In case you didn't know -- the Earth is in fact a giant magnet. Around
it, there's this huge magnetic field, invisible to the eye. It's a
force field, really. It protects us against dangerous, incoming
radiation from the sun and from deep space. If you're an incoming
space particle, the field will drag you away, and drop you somewhere
on the south pole or the north pole. You can see this as it is
happening: the rain of space particles is what we call the Aurora
Borealis, the northern light.
But every now and then, the magnetic field fades, and flips over.
North becomes south, and south becomes north. Such magnetic flip-overs
are probably just as common as Ice Ages. On average, they occur once
every 250,000. But the last time it happened, it was 780,000 years ago
-- so you could say it's time for the planet to flip again.
And hold your horses, our world might be doing just that. For at least
three centuries, the Earth's magnetic field has been fading, in an
ever faster pace. Right now, it is about 10 percent weaker than it was
when scientists started keeping track of it in 1845. Also, there's the
poetically named 'South Atlantic Anomaly'. That's a huge chunk of
Earth, deep underneath the ocean floor, where the turnover has already
begun.
Gladly, the pole ****ft doesn't mean the world is about to 'fall over'
or something, as many people fear. The ice caps won't suddenly move to
Africa. During flip-over, only the magnetic poles change position. You
will have to change the name 'north pole' into 'south pole' and get
used to the fact that compass needles point southwards from now on.
That's basically it.
But you wouldn't be reading this on a site about the end of the world,
if there wasn't some problem, too. When north and south swap, our
magnetic space ****eld will be down for a while. In fact, computer
simulations suggest an even more bizarre scenario. For thousands of
years, there will be multiple magnetic poles, aimlessly wandering
about. There will be a few magnetic north poles lumbering through your
backyard, while another magnetic pole -- say, a south pole -- will
pass in front of your house.
This will have all kind of bizarre effects. Birds and other migrating
animals will lose their way. ****ps, airplanes and travelers relying on
comp***** will get lost, too.
Meanwhile, the night sky is filled with ghostly streaks of colored
light -- that Aurora Borealis again, but this time in your backyard.
There will be power cuts, as the Earth is hit by solar radiation.
Watching TV, listening to the radio or talking over the telephone will
become difficult, and sometimes impossible. Communication lines will
be downed; satellites will be zapped. There could even be spontaneous
outbreaks of fires -- this is what happened during an extreme solar
radiation storm in 1859. And back then, the magnetic field was on!
Meanwhile, your body is zapped, too. The invisibly small space
particles shoot through your body, ripping through your DNA. This can
give you cancer, or horribly mutated offspring. For several thousands
of years, it will be like living next to the crashed nuclear plant of
Chernobyl. Well, with the exception that in Chernobyl, you could at
least use the telephone!
So gradually, humanity will be reduced to a monstrous, sick, cancerous
and demented bunch, right? Well -- perhaps not.
Indeed, all unpleasant effects outlined above are real. But science
agrees that they won't be that severe. The magnetic flip won't wipe
out our civilization, as many doom sayers suggest. Fact is, we can do
without our magnetic blanket for a while.
Take a look at the cancers. It is estimated that without magnetic
field, we would have 15 extra cases of cancer in every 1 million
people a year. That is of course awful -- but hardly catastrophic.
Each year, more people die of the common flu!
Without magnetic field, Earth is still protected by its thick
atmosphere. If you're that evil particle from outer space again, you
will have to zig zag your way through a thick soup of oxygen, nitrogen
and other gases first, before you can finally shoot a human being.
Chances are that long before, you will have bumped into an atmospheric
gas molecule.
In fact, there are two places where the magnetic field is almost zero
already: the north and the south pole. There, the field dumps the
space particles it has caught -- right on the heads of the Inuit
(Eskimos) and polar explorers. But despite all that, the Inuit and the
explorers are doing fine. Even their electricity works.
And if that doesn't calm you down, consider this. You and I won't live
to witness the next swap. It should take at least a few more
centuries, before the poles come marching in.
That being said -- one nightmarish fact remains. In the long run, the
magnetic field could indeed kill us all. In a few billions of years,
chances are the field shuts down for good because the Earth's core
freezes... But that's another story!
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