Page 3 - Did you know the Earth's Magnetic Field Reversed?

WTF?! The magnetic field reversed? So, you're telling me that now when I wear my metal boots outside, I'm in danger of being flung off the face of the Earth? OMG!!


Wait, I don't own any metal boots...

Not exactly and it happened a long time a go and it takes some time to happen so for more info see here

I knew earth has a magnetic field. But never knew that it reverses once in a while. I had no idea that the sun had a magnetic field nor that it changes every 11 years or so.

I'm hoping we get a flip in our lifetimes. I want to live to see North be correct!

Based upon the study of lava flows of basalt throughout the world, it has been proposed that the Earth's magnetic field reverses at intervals, ranging from tens of thousands to many millions of years, with an average interval of approximately 250,000 years. The last such event, called the Brunhes-Matuyama reversal, is theorized to have occurred some 780,000 years ago.


From wikipedia

In that case, it's 3 times over average. FLIP ALREADY, you lazy bastard!!

Earths magnetic field is the result of the flow of molton material beneath the earths crust.
North vs true north has been drifting apart for centuries. Some maps take this into account by noting true north as it changes with each revision.
A veteran compas user will take this into account and be able to correctly assertain thier direction.

Barring any cataclysmic events such as large meteor impacts and the like, the magnetic field will continue to drift lazily, nothing sudden, as it is for as long as the earth has a molten core.

More info Wiki

What The Science Channel or NetGeo, they have "space"/geology type shows on all the time.

They tend to give some good bits of info that I go look up to find out more....

I had no clue...

Yup, there's talk of a sudden shift come 2012, the end of the Mayan calender. This happens to coincide with a galactic alignment with the center of our galaxy. Some suspect it could trigger a pole shift and cataclysmic disasters due to the tectonic stresses of the 'tidal' effect on the molten core of the earth.

I hope you aren't taking that seriously.

Magnetic pole shifts are not cataclysmic events. It has happened before on Earth, and it has nothing to do with galactic alignment. The sun does it every 11 years. The magnetic field on earth does not have anything to do with plate tectonics, volcanoes, or anything of that matter. IT will not cause the earth to tip over, and it will not cause annihilation.

Homo Erectus survived it just fine. Galactic alignments happen as a result of orbiting the sun. It happened in 1998......nothing happened. Why do people think that the gravitational situation of the solar system will be buffered by an alignment with the center of the galaxy 26,000 light years away? If that were so, we would have felt its affects long before we walked on two feet.

Geomagnetic reversal happens on Earth over thousands of years.

It is sad how ignorant a lot people are in matters of science. A little research will show how much nonsense all this is.

Merely spewing gossip. I put little faith in cataclysmic disaster predictions after surviving Y2k, the Michelangelo virus and a few dozen Armageddon dates.

I figured as much.... I was more or less rambling about the actual theory. I've heard it a lot lately hehe.

Oh no, we are all doomed !