Earth’s Magnetic field is weakening
So…….
What is this now ?
OK. Let me explain
As always, starting from the basics….
What is meant by the MAGNETIC FIELD of Earth?
The earth’s magnetic field is a magnetic field exerted from the core which encircles the earth.
And YES, it is ESSENTIAL for our living.
How ?
Well, the magnetic field which surrounds us shields us from space radiations and particles emitted from the sun.
These space radiations are very dangerous for Earth’s surface and even more harmful for the living organisms present inside it.
The magnetic field (magnetosphere) also deflects solar winds from the sun. Without this protection, these winds would strip away the atmosphere along with the Ozone layer causing the UV rays to directly affect Earth.
What is happening to the Earth’s magnetic field ?
Yes. We know that Earth’s magnetic field is weakening. But what are the details? Let’s see-
According to the European Space Agency, our Earth has lost 9% of its magnetic strength over 200 years.
There is a weak spot, located above the Southern Atlantic ocean. The weak spot has grown over 50 years. This region has been named the South Atlantic Anomaly.
The Anomaly is damaging satellites and spacecrafts as they are reporting technical malfunction while flying over that area.
The ESA said that this isn’t a cause for alarm and that it is well within the normal levels of fluctuation.
But the puzzling factor is that the Anomaly is moving westwards at a pace of 12 miles per hour.
One theory related to the weakened field situation is that it might be that our earth is going through a pole reversal
Shocking isn’t it ?
A question is BURNING me right now and it must be doing the same to you’
HAVE WE EXPERIANCED POLE REVERSAL BEFORE ?
It might sound funny, but YEAH we have.
The last pole reversal, as far as we know, happened 780,000 years ago. Scientist are also saying that it is long overdue…
What do you think will happen ?
Will we witness something as weird as a pole reversal?
Please do let me know
Coming up with some more interesting phenomenons
Until next time………
OH WAIT!
I have some interesting thing to share with you all
Yea yea I know it was the end of the blog. But I found something super interesting and wanted to share
Have a look –>
A random Fact:
Auroras [Northern lights A.K.A the beautiful sky lights everyone wants to see once in their life]
U must have seen pics of this beautiful phenomenon all over the internet. These are called northern lights or simply auroras. Ever wondered how they are formed ?
For that, we need to rewind a bit back to magnetic fields.(and this is he reason why I am including this in here)
So Earth’s magnetic field creates a protective cover around the earth. You can think of it as a clear plastic ball covering the earth with holes at the top and bottom, which are the two poles, north and south.
Now as mentioned earlier, this magnetic coverage prevents solar winds to strip off the atmosphere.
These solar winds at a very high speed smack the magnetic clear ball . The magnetic ball, because it’s strong, does not break and instead these particles are deflected by the magnetic field and flow along the field lines towards the north and south poles, hitting the atmosphere around these poles. These are the regions where you get to see auroras.
But HEY ! What about the colorful strings of light swarming in the night sky?
We know that are atmosphere consists of 99% Oxygen and Nitrogen. The electrons and protons (sun’s particles) meet up with Oxygen and Nitrogen atoms. When these atoms come in contact with the particles, they get exited and create photons. Photons are nothing but small bursts of energy in the form of light.
The light we see in the sky is the result of this activity.
But WHAT ABOUT THE COLORS !
The colors we see in the sky depends on the amount of gas present in atmosphere at a specific place or time.
The excited oxygen atoms are responsible for the greenish-yellow and red colored lights. While Excited Nitrogen atoms are responsible for the blue and deep reddish-pink colors.
Photo by Jaanus Jagomägi on Unsplash
Didn’t even think once that there is sooo much physics going on behind these mesmerizing lights
Now I m really signing off
Meet you in my next blog
Till then
TA TA !