Guest guest Posted December 12, 2005 Report Share Posted December 12, 2005 Alaska could lose its northern lights, scientists sayThe Earth's north magnetic pole is drifting away from North America so fast that it could end up in Siberia within 50 years, scientists have said. The shift could mean that Alaska will lose its northern lights, or auroras, which might then be more visible in areas of Siberia and Europe. The magnetic poles are different from geographic poles, the surface points marking the axis of Earth's rotation. Magnetic poles are known to migrate and, occasionally, swap places. "This may be part of a normal oscillation and it will eventually migrate back toward Canada," Joseph Stoner, a palaeomagnetist at Oregon State University, told a meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in San Francisco. Wandering poles Previous studies have shown that the strength of the Earth's magnetic shield has decreased 10% over the past 150 years. During the same period, the north magnetic pole wandered about 1,100km (685 miles) into the Arctic, according to the new analysis. The rate of the magnetic pole's movement has increased in the last century compared to fairly steady movement in the previous four centuries, the Oregon researchers said. The Oregon researchers examined the sediment record from several Arctic lakes. Since the sediments record the Earth's magnetic field at the time, scientists used carbon dating to track changes in the magnetic field. They found that the north magnetic field shifted significantly in the last thousand years. It generally migrated between northern Canada and Siberia, but has occasionally moved in other directions. Rate of change At the present rate, the north magnetic pole could swing out of northern Canada into Siberia. If that happens, Alaska could lose its northern lights, or aurorae, which occur when charged particles streaming away from the sun collide with gases in the ionosphere, causing them to glow. The north magnetic pole was first discovered in 1831 and when it was revisited in 1904, explorers found it had moved by 50km (31 miles). For centuries, navigators using compasses had to learn to deal with the difference between magnetic and geographic north. A compass needle points to the north magnetic pole, not the geographic North Pole. SEE ALSO: Is the Earth preparing to flip? http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2889127.stm The Valley Vegan.............Peter H Cars NEW - sell your car and browse thousands of new and used cars online search now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 12, 2005 Report Share Posted December 12, 2005 I grew up in Oregon, the north east portion. It was a tiny town with hardly any lights at night. I used to go out and lay down on the ground and watch the Northern Lights. Of course that was in the early 60's. They were so incredibly wonderful to watch dancing. How I would love to see them again. Well, maybe you Europeans will have that pleasure again soon too. linda "Whatever you do will be insignificant and it is very important that you do it."Mohandas Gandhi linda's Growing Stitchery Projects: womyn47 - peter hurd Monday, December 12, 2005 12:04 PM Re: Magnetic north pole drifting fast Alaska could lose its northern lights, scientists sayThe Earth's north magnetic pole is drifting away from North America so fast that it could end up in Siberia within 50 years, scientists have said. The shift could mean that Alaska will lose its northern lights, or auroras, which might then be more visible in areas of Siberia and Europe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 12, 2005 Report Share Posted December 12, 2005 Hi Fraggle / Peter > just worry if the poles decide t o switch anytime soon..... Well it's about time for it to happen.... the geo-magnetic evidence in the mid-Atlantic ridge shows that it happens regularly every 11,000 years (give or take a few years).... and last time it happened was about 11,000 years ago! BB Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 Hi Peter > O.K. so I dont know what I am talking about! what will happen to Wales when the poles flip? I would imagine that it will become full of Welsh people who blame the English for affecting their electronic equipment and compasses.... ;-) BB Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 Hi Peter L & L & LOL - I can't stop giggling now. BB Jo , " Peter " <metalscarab@g...> wrote: > > Hi Peter > > > O.K. so I dont know what I am talking about! what will happen to Wales when the poles flip? > > I would imagine that it will become full of Welsh people who blame the English for affecting their electronic equipment and compasses.... ;-) > > BB > Peter > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 What?, Wales becoming full of Welsh people? that would be novel! The Valley Vegan...............Peter <metalscarab wrote: Hi Peter > O.K. so I dont know what I am talking about! what will happen to Wales when the poles flip? I would imagine that it will become full of Welsh people who blame the English for affecting their electronic equipment and compasses.... ;-) BB PeterTo send an email to - Peter H Cars NEW - sell your car and browse thousands of new and used cars online search now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 oh pullleeeze anyways the earth's magnetic field is generated within the molten cor of the planet as the motlen bits(thought to be mostly iron and nickle) churn, they create in essence an electrical like current, our magnetic field... most of the waves produced all line up the same way...but, every once in awhile, an anomaly is created, and a newly created magnetic field will be created in the opposite direction.... these are called instabilities generally..they don't last long...and dissipate but...some stick around and grow... as they grow, the original polarity weakens..this will cause the new polarity to blossom is size/strength..collapsing the old field, and reversing the polarity... , Jonnie Hellens <jonnie_hellens> wrote: > > If anyone can make an understandable explanation for me, you can dear frag. Can you explain why the magnetic poles weaken and flip? I know it happens every certain amount of years. What changes can we expect when that happens? The earth's axis is the center points it rotates from, right? That would be catastrophic if that changed, right? > > fraggle <EBbrewpunx@e...> wrote: hurm > well..the earth's axis and the pole's shifting are two different things > if/when the magnetic poles weaken and then flip, it won't have anything to do with the rotational axis of the planet > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 That's true - most of them are in England :-) Jo - peter hurd Tuesday, December 13, 2005 7:20 PM Re: Magnetic north pole drifting fast What?, Wales becoming full of Welsh people? that would be novel! The Valley Vegan...............Peter <metalscarab wrote: Hi Peter > O.K. so I dont know what I am talking about! what will happen to Wales when the poles flip? I would imagine that it will become full of Welsh people who blame the English for affecting their electronic equipment and compasses.... ;-) BB PeterTo send an email to - Peter H Cars NEW - sell your car and browse thousands of new and used cars online search now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 13, 2005 Report Share Posted December 13, 2005 Yep, seems as though Cardiff is full of Eastern Europeans and Somali`s at the moment............Which reminds me of this years urban myth.( forgive me if I told you before - brain not working) A woman picked up a wallet and ran after the owner. He offered her some money as a reward, she declined so he told her to listen to his advice and to stay out of Cardiff during December as it could save her life!...He was a Somali................. Not bad eh?, last year he was an Arab! The Valley Vegan....................jo <jo.heartwork wrote: That's true - most of them are in England :-) Jo - peter hurd Tuesday, December 13, 2005 7:20 PM Re: Magnetic north pole drifting fast What?, Wales becoming full of Welsh people? that would be novel! The Valley Vegan...............Peter <metalscarab wrote: Hi Peter > O.K. so I dont know what I am talking about! what will happen to Wales when the poles flip? I would imagine that it will become full of Welsh people who blame the English for affecting their electronic equipment and compasses.... ;-) BB PeterTo send an email to - Peter H Cars NEW - sell your car and browse thousands of new and used cars online search now Peter H How much free photo storage do you get? Store your holiday snaps for FREE with Photos. Get Photos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 2, 2006 Report Share Posted January 2, 2006 Thanks Frag! That must be why you can always count on me to heard North only to have someone tell me I'm heading the exact opposite way, huh? (Tilts head side to side ... this way or this way?)fraggle <EBbrewpunx wrote: oh pullleeeze:)anywaysthe earth's magnetic field is generated within the molten cor of the planetas the motlen bits(thought to be mostly iron and nickle) churn, they create in essence an electrical like current, our magnetic field...most of the waves produced all line up the same way...but, every once in awhile, an anomaly is created, and a newly created magnetic field will be created in the opposite direction....these are called instabilitiesgenerally..they don't last long...and dissipatebut...some stick aroundand grow...as they grow, the original polarity weakens..this will cause the new polarity to blossom is size/strength..collapsing the old field, and reversing the polarity... , Jonnie Hellens <jonnie_hellens> wrote:>> If anyone can make an understandable explanation for me, you can dear frag. Can you explain why the magnetic poles weaken and flip? I know it happens every certain amount of years. What changes can we expect when that happens? The earth's axis is the center points it rotates from, right? That would be catastrophic if that changed, right?> > fraggle <EBbrewpunx@e...> wrote: hurm> well..the earth's axis and the pole's shifting are two different things> if/when the magnetic poles weaken and then flip, it won't have anything to do with the rotational axis of the planet> > DSL Something to write home about. Just $16.99/mo. or less Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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