What the Upcoming Geomagnetic Reversal Will Do to Earth

when you think about the North Pole you don't expect it to go anywhere and you certainly don't expect it to change places with the South Pole that would just be wrong our magnetic compasses would all point the wrong way we'd need to update our Maps Birds would probably be horribly confused and yet although they sound like something out of Science Fiction geomagnetic reversals like this are real they've happened before and the process behind it might be a lot more dangerous than you'd think to be clear it's not the reversals themselves that are potentially dangerous it's the buildup during those times the Earth's magnetic field the shield around our planet that keeps us safe from deadly solar radiation will drop to as low as 10% of its current strength leading one group of scientists in 2021 to predict climate shifts and mass extinctions and others to describe satellites being destroyed electrical grids going offline and deadly radiation raining down on us for hundreds or even thousands of years this is troubling when you consider that we are a couple of hundred thousand years overdue for our next geomagnetic reversal and based on fluctuations in the Earth's magnetic field that scientists are detecting right now the buildup to a geomagnetic reversal may even have begun already which begs the question should we be worried I'm Alex molan and you're watching astram join with me today as we explore the science behind geomagnetic reversals and find out whether the next one will be an apocalyptic scenario or whether it'll lead to nothing more than a few lost Birds what truly happens when things go south let's start by trying to understand where the Earth's magnetic field comes from in the first place it's not a given that our planet would have a magnetic field the two planets flanking us Mars and Venus do not have one and yet the Earth does which is a good thing as without one there is a very real chance life would not have been able to arise here in the first place thanks to the protective Cocoon of this field deadly solar radiation is deflected away from the planet surface allowing things to flourish without all that radiation breaking down our DNA causing mutation and Cancers scientists are still trying to figure out all the particulars of why certain planets have fields and certain others don't but the current leading theory is that the Earth's core acts as a giant Dynamo it's a principle of physics that you can use electrical fields to create magnetic ones and vice versa this is the principle that power plants work under moving a magnet through a coil of wires causes electrical current to start to flow as that changing magnetic field exerts a force on the electrons present there but similarly the motion of electrons creates a magnetic field to form in perpendicular circles around the direction of motion in accordance with farad's law of induction but the way this applies to the earth's core is a delicate complicated process to start with our core needs to be at least partially liquid which fortunately is true above the solid inner core that lies at the heart of our planet is a liquid outer core where the pressure isn't quite high enough to keep things in a solid state it's very hot in the outer core though 6,000 de C at its warmest point so hot that it Rivals the surface temperature of the sun which when combined with the lower pressure compared to the inner core is more than enough to keep the iron and nickel that makes it up flowing down there the temperature drops As you move away from the center of the earth this gets circulation going hot conductive material from the warmer deeper regions of the outer core Rises then cools then falls again creating loops and currents of flowing material our electrical field starts to be generated but if there are many of these flowing Loops which in theory there would be why does Earth only have one North Pole and one South Pole surely the created magnetic fields would be all over the place well there is thought to be an extra Force at play that takes all these fields and unifies them pointing them in the same direction this force is thought to be the coriolus effect dynamo theory states that the coriolus effect causes these flows of iron to not rise and fall as straight lines but as spirals the spinning of the Earth causes them to gently be spun in turn creating giant Springs as each segment of each spring is creating a magnetic field in a circle around it the net result is that the inside of these Springs creates a solid unified field that all moves in the same direction upwards while the outside brings that magnetic field looping back down again and back in to the bottom of the coil in short it creates the well-known magnetic dipole North and South that we see today however if there's anything that you should take away from this it's that this process is precarious as it is based on a lot of liquid iron essentially just slushing around which is not very consistent our magnetic field thus has little fluctuations and Wobbles all the time we see this in different ways but a big one is that our North Pole is constantly moving since scientists began keeping track of it in 1831 the North Pole has gradually shifted about 1,100 km leaving its original location in Canada and moving up towards Siberia its rate of motion is also increasing going from 16 km a year to roughly 55 km a year a big jump this might still be akin to just the momentary bubles of a spinning top though yes it deviates somewhat but it always remains roughly upright that's a far cry from a complete reversal however scientists are certain that such reversals have happened before they even have a specific number 183 times in the last 83 million years how do they know the answer lies locked in our Earth's surface iron when mag magma erupts from the Earth's mantle it can contain small amounts of iron as these can move freely in the molten magma they tend to orient themselves in the direction of the Earth's magnetic field however scientists noticed that there were layers of geological history where the iron was pointing one way and layers where it was pointing in the reverse Direction their explanation the entire pole of the planet had flipped on average these flips seem to happen every 450 ,000 years although the last few have only got 300,000 year gaps between them comparatively it's been 750,000 years since the last reversal you might think that we're overdue for one and some have made that claim however scientists have found that there's little Rhyme or Reason to the timing of these flips one of the longest gaps between flips took place in the Cretaceous Period and it lasted 40 million years the record holder the Kian reverse superon was 312 to 262 million years ago 50 million years with no reversal scientists are still trying to understand what causes these flips however the current theory is that something perhaps some interplay between the mantle and the outer core causes a fluctuation in the core spinning this disrupts the spiraling shapes of the cor's flow breaking them down the magnetic field of the earth stops being unified and generally becomes a sprawling mess fighting against itself several poles might temporarily arise during this period of Shifting magnetic confusion while in time things settle down and the spirals reassert themselves it seems random as to which way they will do this meaning about half the time our Magnetic North Pole reappears over the geographical South this reasserting can take 1,000 to 10,000 years all right but would that really be the end of the world why does this matter well during that period before the poles reassert themselves our Earth's magnetic field drops to as low as 10% of its current strength in theory this could leave us much more vulnerable to all the solar radiation space throws at us we could see auroras reaching much further south during that time skin cancer rates would increase our satellites would find themselves with not enough shielding radiation would fry their circuits causing them to malfunction shut down and potentially even slowly fall from orbit our electrical grid would be much more vulnerable to solar storms which could lead to large segments of the Earth's population without power with no electricity or satellite communication it would be a devast devastating blow to our Global civilization it could be worse than that a research team from the University of New South Wales in Sydney even linked one of the most recent weakenings of the magnetic field the lamps event a temporary 800-year wobble rather than a full flip to megap foral mass extinctions in Australia including the deaths of D proon giant Australian wombats and procoptodon Gaya giant kangaroos temporary wobbles like this are known as geomagnetic excursions rather than full reversals and they happen over much shorter time frames their transition periods can last as little as 200 years rather than 10,000 which can be much more difficult for species to adapt to in their 2021 study they argued that there was a spike in atmospheric radiocarbon levels caused by the collapse of the Earth's magnetic field indicating in climate shifts that could have led to these extinctions the timing lines up uncomfortably but how real are these risks honestly it's a mixed bag a point in our favor is that other than this recent study there is no indication that magnetic field reversals have ever coincided with mass extinction events it seems like many reversals have come and Gone without affecting animal or plant life at all and even in this study such mass extinctions seem to have been Limited in scope there is no claim from the researchers that this was a global phenomenon other parts of the world remained unaffected even during the lamp's event it seems that a perfect storm might have been in play where specific conditions over Australia left it more vulnerable to solar radiation in terms of our Global Society it's worth noting that these magnetic changes would take many lifetimes to complete even at their fastest this would be slow enough that we could come to terms with our new reality if our satellites don't have enough shielding we would have time to build something that were better protected if solar radiation becomes a larger risk we could remain indoors more sun cream might become more powerful to mitigate the dangers of cancers if not remove them entirely and according to NASA even if our Fields were to significantly weaken it's not like we would be left with our protection our atmosphere itself can catch radiation meaning that we would remain safe from solar winds and Cosmic radiation at least to some degree it would take far longer than 10,000 years for our atmosphere's ozone to be stripped away but I would be surprised if there wasn't at least some turmoil at least while we adjusted to living under a reduced magnetic field big changes to how a society operates are always painful and this isn't entirely hypothetical did you know the Earth's magnetic field has been steadily weakening for the last 200 years it would take another 1,300 years for it to vanish completely so there's plenty of time for it to stop its current downward Trend and there's no reason to think this isn't just a temporary wobble but on top of that there is also the South Atlantic anomaly to consider a section of the Earth's magnetic field that is already showing signs of significant weakening that covers most of the space around South America and the neighboring ocean this Zone might not influence life on the ground but is dangerous enough that it has fried satellites and threatened astronauts a Hubble Telescope has to turn itself off every time it flies through it imagine that but across the entire Globe that's what we might expect while the poles are reversing concerningly the South Atlantic anomaly has been growing continuously since we started keeping track of it possibly suggesting the approach of either another geomagnetic wobble like the the shamps event or that a full-blown reversal is already upon us if it happens it won't likely be something that ends civilization as we know it but if the study about Australian megap fora is correct it isn't going to be without impact either species could die humans will have to accommodate a very different more hazardous space enir environment it's interesting to learn about geomagnetic reversals and their potential impacts on the planet but while we are not likely to see what happen in our lifetimes for the generations of humanity after us this might turn out to be a lot less hypothetical they might be seeing it firsthand scientists spend a lot of time and resources trying to check on the health and well-being of our Earth's magnetic field for good reason and yet yet on a day-to-day level in all the hectic Rush of living we sometimes forget to spend time and effort checking in on our own mental well-being talking to someone is one of the most important things you can do for yourself keeping our minds healthy is a vital component of our overall happiness and just like we're looking after your physical health it sometimes requires spending time on it today's video is in paid partnership with better help an online therapy platform that allows you to match with a credential therapist in usually under 48 hours online therapy is a great way to look after your mind giving you a chance to explore how you're feeling with someone who can listen and offer helpful unbiased advice if you're struggling with your own personal crisis and haven't asked for help yet stop and take a breath then consider therapy and better help is a great place to get started it's convenient as you can message phone or video chat at times that work for you over 4 million people have already started using better help to find their way to a happier healthier life if you would like to try better help for yourself go to betterhelp.com asrom click my link in the description below or scan the QR code on the screen viewers who use my links can get 10% off their first month sessions go ahead and give it a try thanks for watching if you like this video you may like my others on Earth's other various Cycles in this playlist here a big thanks to my patrons and members if you want to support to and have your name added to the end of every Asom video check the links below all the best and see you next time

Channel: Astrum

Views: 2,041,379

Keywords: magnetic field reversal, earth, earth magnetic field, magnetic poles, magnetic pole, magnetic pole shift, magnetic poles shifting, earth magnetic poles, earth's magnetic field is flipping, geomagnetic pole vs magnetic pole, magnetic pole reversal, earth's magnetic field flipping, astrum, astrumspace, earth's poles flip, earth core, earths magnetic pole, magnetosphere, south pole, north pole, magnetic field, space, physics, earth's poles, nasa, geomagnetic reversal, geomagnetic pole

Id: ridb9olnqLc

Length: 16min 27sec (987 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 10 2023