Earth Loses Magnetism

BBC ^ | 1-1-2004 | Molly Bently

[_Jim]

Hmmm ... must be a slow news day huh?

[Semper Paratus]

"Magnetic loss of earth increases under Bush Presidency"

"Wes Clark introduces 8 point plan to restore Magnetism"

[Rhetorical pi2]

I want to be the first to say it:

"It's George Bush's fault" :o)

[Consort]

Magnetism is not as attractive as it used to be.

[Koblenz]

This is more proof that we should pass Kyoto and not eat at McDonald's. And stop the disparity between rich and poor nations, which causes this imbalance. This might also be caused by all the bombs being dropped in Afghanistan and Iraq on babies.

[Rhetorical pi2]

Dammit!! I was beaten by 1 minute 45 seconds!!!

...and also beaten by someone with a funnier line!

[curmudgeonII]

At the current rate of decline it would take 1,500 to 2,000 years to disappear.

I can hardly wait.

[tpaine]

Consort wrote:
Magnetism is not as attractive as it used to be.

---

Seems to have attracted one of our flyers..

Nice article Blam.. Keep em coming.

[evad]

"Magnetic loss of earth increases under Bush Presidency"

Yup..it's Bush's fault.

Oops, maybe it's a good thing.
Then AlGore invented it.

[Johnny_Cipher]

Is this why I'm having to wrap my feet around my computer chair to keep from smacking into the ceiling?

[11th Earl of Mar]

No wonder I can jump higher.

And the scale says I lost 20 pounds also!

[Consort]

It doesn't have the drawing power it once had.

[gitmo]

This would give animals which use the magnetic field for navigation, such as some birds, turtles and bees, time to reorient themselves.

If I recall my college courses correctly, this theory was discounted in the 50's.

It would be shocking if the magnetic fields stayed exactly the same over the years. (Same goes for the global temperature, sea levels, rain patterns, CO2 levels ...) If the magnetic fields were increasing we would be reading an article about how dangerous this is.

[inquest]

The heat of the solid inner core keeps the molten cocktail of nickel and iron churning in the outer core, which generates a magnetic field.

Something about that doesn't make sense to me. Simply moving a metallic substance around and around shouldn't be able to generate a magnetic field, unless the substance is charged for some reason. But what would be causing it to be charged, and where's the balance of the charge gone to?

[Mad Dawgg]

"If we had the equivalent of a space probe that went into the core and made measurements for us, that would tell us a tremendous amount," said Dr Bloxham. Hollywood may be able to do these things, but we can't."

Rule number one in the serach for legitimacy:

Anytime one makes even a passing reference to the movie "The Core" no matter if it was a lame attempt to insert humor into the article by way of a disparaging remark, has not only failed but should now and forever be banned from any position of responsibility higher than say professional dog curber.

[NewHampshireDuo]

It's the proliferation of refrigerator magnets. They have a cumulative effect that is cancelling out the earth's field. ;-)

[farmfriend]

Some interesting science threads lately.

[inquest]

And they would certainly not threaten life on Earth as they do in science fiction. Although there would be extra radiation exposure to satellites and some airplanes, there would also be enough of a residual field to provide protection to people, and certainly no more radiation than what is observed at the poles, where the field lines currently dip.

[snip]

This would give animals which use the magnetic field for navigation, such as some birds, turtles and bees, time to reorient themselves.

"They'd go through many generations in the period in which the field was entering the phase of reversal," said Dr Bloxham. "Presumably they would learn new behaviour patterns to accommodate it."

Anyone else find it very interesting how the scientists are so blase about these environmental changes, when they're naturally (though completely haphazardly) occurring, but if man were to cause these exact same changes, there'd be no end to the gloom and doom we'd be hearing?

[Yosemitest]

Hebrews 12: 18 - 29 Study This Chapter 18 For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest, 19 and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers entreat that no further messages be spoken to them. 20 For they could not endure the order that was given, "If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned." 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, "I tremble with fear." 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to a judge who is God of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks more graciously than the blood of Abel. 25 See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less shall we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. 26 His voice then shook the earth; but now he has promised, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven." 27 This phrase, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of what is shaken, as of what has been made, in order that what cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe; 29 for our God is a consuming fire.

The Revised Standard Version

How did a woolly mammoth freeze with tropical flowers in his mouth and stomach?