It is bound to change. But it will not happen instantly as many doomsday people say it will. That's what I originally thought you meant, so I voted no.
Poll
Do you think that the Earth's magnetic field is going to flip?
| yes | 73% | 73% - 55 | ||||
| no | 26% | 26% - 20 | ||||
| Total: 75 | ||||||
Not in the near future.
actually, they think that it might happen during my lifetime.doctastrangelove1964 wrote:
Not in the near future.
When you're in this forum long enough, your mind fills that in automaticallyCanadian_Sniper_X wrote:
I'm not worried about it at all.
I love all the people saying 'I'm right' and 'you're wrong'
Nobody knows for sure, and it's only what you read. So everyone should just start their sentences with 'I think...'
-konfusion
Woo hoo! Therefore Antarctica will be the "North Pole" and "Santa" will have to move there. Suck on that, children of the northern hemisphere.
Yeah. Not gonna be able to do much about it though. Buy lots of sunscreen I guess.
The paradox is only a conflict between reality and your feeling what reality ought to be.
~ Richard Feynman
~ Richard Feynman
roflmaosome_random_panda wrote:
Woo hoo! Therefore Antarctica will be the "North Pole" and "Santa" will have to move there. Suck on that, children of the northern hemisphere.
I votes yes, because it's happened before. But it would have been a better poll if you asked when we thought it'd flip. I think it would be very unlikely to happen in our lifetime.
Also north=south and east=west isn't really right since those are defined by mankind, it's more that all our compasses would be wrong. BTW if anyone knows that it's going to happen in the near future could you please let me know so I can buy shares in a compass making company...
I agree, the only real problem I see is the reduced magnetic field strength over the period when the poles flip over will result in slightly increased skin cancer rates. By the time the flip does come, most important directional information will be coming from GPS which is unaffected by the Earth's magnetic field. As far as using a pocket compass for map reading goes, it'll still work after the flip (during it it'll be a glorified paperweight), you just have to remember that the end that was pointing north now points south.Spark wrote:
Yeah. Not gonna be able to do much about it though. Buy lots of sunscreen I guess.
As far as renaming north-south east-west goes. there's no actual reason to change which way round they are as they are arbitrarily named already. A magnetic compass just lines up parallel to the Earth's magnetic field lines (facing the right way obviously). When the flip occurs we'll just re-label which of the ends of the compass is facing north.
For example in this diagram the white hand would then be the north not the red one. Much easier than changing which way N,S,E&W are.
but i don't want to live in the south east of england, people there are pansies.
if it happens it happens, havoc during the change, not much else really.
if it happens it happens, havoc during the change, not much else really.
wont need a new GPS thats not compass related (dont think it is ) we will just chage the norht pole to sounth so it will be the right way round again and it will have to be one of those things kids have to learn lolPenetrator_01 wrote:
Geologists think that this happens naturally every so often in the life cycle of the Earth, similar to glabal warming followed by global cooling. Might need to buy a new GPS, but I think that'll be the worst of it.
id rather live in the south east than the north tbhNoobeater wrote:
but i don't want to live in the south east of england, people there are pansies.
if it happens it happens, havoc during the change, not much else really.
i have a whole list of things for people up their
we all have insults for each other, my main one is that "always remember that southeners are at one place only 21 miles away from being french *nod knowingly*"
Too late, I already started...lavadisk wrote:
Hmm. This'll be interesting.
I sure hope people aren't flipping out and building bomb shelters.
Why would you need a new GPS?Penetrator_01 wrote:
Geologists think that this happens naturally every so often in the life cycle of the Earth, similar to glabal warming followed by global cooling. Might need to buy a new GPS, but I think that'll be the worst of it.
GPS works by timing signals bounced of a satellite, a bit like a ping signal. This is done a few times and the clock in the satellite is extremely accurate - usually Caesium based atomic clock, I think.
You ask what we think dont get mad its what I think. If you dont want to know what people think dont ask...duh
OK be serious
it might happen and if it did how many would be left to talk about it. what would happen to the earth? all of the things that live on it not just humans? this is something that has been talked about for the last 80 years. what would happen to the moon. not to worry any of you but the moon is slowly moving away from the earth. think this might have something to do with all this talk. ????
if you sit down and really think about it you should be more scared that some idiot is going to press the little button and screw all of us!
I did read everything you all wrote. Even the best minds cant agree that it will happen or when if it does happen...Theory isint great.....by the way its what you based your poll off of THEORY not fact. I do argee that the magnetic fields are getting weaker.. I was asking if you think that the moon moving away from the Earth has something to do with it. As for the question of who would be left is this ( all it takes for some people to flip out is something to happen. like i dont know fart on the plane then see who jumps)
If you realy want to know when it happens watch the birds.
Im more scared that some ass is going to start dropping nukes<-----not a theory! It really happens! An now that more counrty and radicel have them who know.
P.S. dont get pissy its only up for debate thats why there is the poll.
P.S.S. dont hate it only spreads to you _-_- (you pick the word that fits for you)
Magnetic Storm homepage
If all the compasses in the world started pointing south rather than north, many people might think something very strange, very unusual, and possibly very dangerous was going on. Doomsayers would have a field day proclaiming the end is nigh, while more rational persons might head straight to scientists for an explanation.
Fortunately, those scientists in the know—paleomagnetists, to be exact—would have a ready answer. Such reversals in the Earth's magnetic field, they'd tell you, are, roughly speaking, as common as ice ages. That is, they're terrifically infrequent by human standards, but in geologic terms they happen all the time. As the time line at right shows, hundreds of times in our planet's history the polarity of the magnetic shield ensheathing the globe has gone from "normal," our current orientation to the north, to "reversed," and back again.
The Earth is not alone in this fickleness: The sun's magnetic shield appears to reverse its polarity approximately every 11 years. Even our Milky Way galaxy is magnetized, and experts say it probably reverses its polarity as well. Moreover, while a severe weakening or disappearance of the magnetic field would lay us open to harmful radiation from the sun, there's little evidence to date that "flips" per se inflict any lasting damage (see Impact on Animals).
It might sound as if scientists have all the answers regarding magnetic reversals. But actually they know very little about them. Basic questions haunt researchers: What physical processes within the Earth trigger reversals? Why do the durations and frequencies of both normal and reversed states seem random? Why is there such a disproportionately long normal period between about 121 and 83 million years ago? Why does the reversal rate, at least during the past 160 million years, appear to peak around 12 million years ago?
All these questions remain unanswered, though experts like Dennis Kent, the Rutgers University geologist who supplied NOVA with updated figures for the time line, are hard at work trying to answer them. In the meantime, not to worry. Reversals happen on average only about once every 250,000 years, and they take hundreds if not thousands of years to complete.
Even the weakening currently under way may be a false alarm. The field often gets very weak, then bounces back, never having flipped. As Ron Merrill, a magnetic-field specialist at the University of Washington remarked when asked whether we're in for a reversal: "Ask me in 10,000 years, I'll give you a better answer." So hang on to your compass. For the foreseeable future, it should work as advertised.—Peter Tyson
OK be serious
it might happen and if it did how many would be left to talk about it. what would happen to the earth? all of the things that live on it not just humans? this is something that has been talked about for the last 80 years. what would happen to the moon. not to worry any of you but the moon is slowly moving away from the earth. think this might have something to do with all this talk. ????
if you sit down and really think about it you should be more scared that some idiot is going to press the little button and screw all of us!
I did read everything you all wrote. Even the best minds cant agree that it will happen or when if it does happen...Theory isint great.....by the way its what you based your poll off of THEORY not fact. I do argee that the magnetic fields are getting weaker.. I was asking if you think that the moon moving away from the Earth has something to do with it. As for the question of who would be left is this ( all it takes for some people to flip out is something to happen. like i dont know fart on the plane then see who jumps)
If you realy want to know when it happens watch the birds.
Im more scared that some ass is going to start dropping nukes<-----not a theory! It really happens! An now that more counrty and radicel have them who know.
P.S. dont get pissy its only up for debate thats why there is the poll.
P.S.S. dont hate it only spreads to you _-_- (you pick the word that fits for you)
Magnetic Storm homepage
If all the compasses in the world started pointing south rather than north, many people might think something very strange, very unusual, and possibly very dangerous was going on. Doomsayers would have a field day proclaiming the end is nigh, while more rational persons might head straight to scientists for an explanation.
Fortunately, those scientists in the know—paleomagnetists, to be exact—would have a ready answer. Such reversals in the Earth's magnetic field, they'd tell you, are, roughly speaking, as common as ice ages. That is, they're terrifically infrequent by human standards, but in geologic terms they happen all the time. As the time line at right shows, hundreds of times in our planet's history the polarity of the magnetic shield ensheathing the globe has gone from "normal," our current orientation to the north, to "reversed," and back again.
The Earth is not alone in this fickleness: The sun's magnetic shield appears to reverse its polarity approximately every 11 years. Even our Milky Way galaxy is magnetized, and experts say it probably reverses its polarity as well. Moreover, while a severe weakening or disappearance of the magnetic field would lay us open to harmful radiation from the sun, there's little evidence to date that "flips" per se inflict any lasting damage (see Impact on Animals).
It might sound as if scientists have all the answers regarding magnetic reversals. But actually they know very little about them. Basic questions haunt researchers: What physical processes within the Earth trigger reversals? Why do the durations and frequencies of both normal and reversed states seem random? Why is there such a disproportionately long normal period between about 121 and 83 million years ago? Why does the reversal rate, at least during the past 160 million years, appear to peak around 12 million years ago?
All these questions remain unanswered, though experts like Dennis Kent, the Rutgers University geologist who supplied NOVA with updated figures for the time line, are hard at work trying to answer them. In the meantime, not to worry. Reversals happen on average only about once every 250,000 years, and they take hundreds if not thousands of years to complete.
Even the weakening currently under way may be a false alarm. The field often gets very weak, then bounces back, never having flipped. As Ron Merrill, a magnetic-field specialist at the University of Washington remarked when asked whether we're in for a reversal: "Ask me in 10,000 years, I'll give you a better answer." So hang on to your compass. For the foreseeable future, it should work as advertised.—Peter Tyson
Last edited by SmkenRez (2007-06-14 20:58:05)
have you read anything anybody else has been saying?SmkenRez wrote:
OK be serious
it might happen and if it did how many would be left to talk about it. what would happen to the earth and all of the things that live on it not just humans. this is something that has been talked about for the last 80 years. what would happen to the moon. not to worry any of you but the moon is slowly moving away from the earth think this might have something to do with all this talk.
if you sit down and really think about it you should be more scared that some idiot is going to press the little button and screw all of us
Yes the moon is moving away at something like 3 miles/100yrs or something like that, but how does that relate to the fact that the earths magnetic field is weakening?
EDIT: please read what others and i have posted
EDIT EDIT: all of us would survive (assuming it happened in our lifetime), the only thing that would happen is a slight increase in skin cancer deaths
Last edited by theit57 (2007-06-14 14:03:48)
I'm going to the pawn shop and selling my compasses before they find out about this.
sorry my poor english, but does this mean we're doomed or something?
Right.
READ.
Some rock deep down in the crust is magnetically charged. There are areas of rock called shield areas which haven't been touched by faulting, folding, or magma vents etc. for millions of years, (basically undamaged).
Geologists have taken samples from sections of these areas and they saw that the magnetism of the rock changes (it's visible).
They worked out that the magnetic field flips at a non-uniform rate (I don't know the range/approximation off the top of my head).
So it's not a question of if it will happen, more of when.....
READ.
Some rock deep down in the crust is magnetically charged. There are areas of rock called shield areas which haven't been touched by faulting, folding, or magma vents etc. for millions of years, (basically undamaged).
Geologists have taken samples from sections of these areas and they saw that the magnetism of the rock changes (it's visible).
They worked out that the magnetic field flips at a non-uniform rate (I don't know the range/approximation off the top of my head).
So it's not a question of if it will happen, more of when.....
no, it just means that north will become south and east will become west and vise versasuomalainen_äijä wrote:
sorry my poor english, but does this mean we're doomed or something?
Basically, this:theit57 wrote:
no, it just means that north will become south and east will become west and vise versasuomalainen_äijä wrote:
sorry my poor english, but does this mean we're doomed or something?
My state was founded by Batman. Your opinion is invalid.
Earth's magnetic field switches every few million years.
Null vote.
I don't think the magnetic field will flip.
I do think the crust will.
And Einstein agreed with me. (or rather I agree with Einstein )
Pole shift theory (wikipedia)
Crustal Displacement (summarized by Ellie Crystal)
I don't think the magnetic field will flip.
I do think the crust will.
And Einstein agreed with me. (or rather I agree with Einstein )
Pole shift theory (wikipedia)
Crustal Displacement (summarized by Ellie Crystal)
Literally that.Cheez wrote:
Basically, this:
Last edited by Scorpion0x17 (2007-06-14 18:43:20)
ahhh...noCheez wrote:
Basically, this:theit57 wrote:
no, it just means that north will become south and east will become west and vise versasuomalainen_äijä wrote:
sorry my poor english, but does this mean we're doomed or something?
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c … versed.jpg
its just the magnetic field, not the entire earth
ONOES!!! PANIC! I IZ GON2 FALL OFF DA PL4N3T AN DIEZZ!!!!1!Scorpion0x17 wrote:
Null vote.
I don't think the magnetic field will flip.
I do think the crust will.
And Einstein agreed with me. (or rather I agree with Einstein )
Pole shift theory (wikipedia)
Crustal Displacement (summarized by Ellie Crystal)Literally that.