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Earth’s magnetic fields help sustain life on our planet, but they could also be a driver of climate change and the reason some species have become extinct.
This is the bold statement made in a scientific article published in Science magazine this week.
The review article argues that atmospheric changes over 40,000 years ago had such a drastic impact on the planet that they caused significant environmental damage and even extinction events.
Shielding the Earth from harmful ultraviolet rays, the planet’s magnetic fields play a vital role in preserving life, but vary in strength with the magnetic poles sometimes even changing position.
This phenomenon, reviews claims in the article say, has never before been conclusively linked with extinction events or major ecological disasters in Earth’s history.
How did scientists come up with this theory?
The scientists behind the research looked at the rings of kauri trees, a species native to New Zealand that grow up to 1,000 years old and whose timber survives for tens of thousands of years in swamps and swamps. wetlands, as the basis of their theory.
Using carbon dating techniques, they found that the trees they examined were over 40,000 years old, which would mean they were growing at a time known as the “Laschamp Excursion”.
The latter was an event in which Earth’s magnetic fields weakened considerably. Studies of the wood samples showed a peak of carbon-14 in tree rings, suggesting that the Earth had been subjected to high levels of cosmic particles and radiation from space.
The team believes that these particles have contributed to a degradation of the Earth’s ozone layer, which in turn has triggered changes in the global climate and environmental changes.
Some critics are skeptical
While critics suggest the research opens up interesting avenues for investigation, they say researchers go too far in their conclusions.
In particular, their link between climate change and other events that were happening at the same time, such as the extinction of Neanderthals and the advancement of sophisticated rock painting styles.
As for the researchers, they claim that early humans took shelter in caves due to the increased radiation and used ocher, the main material used in cave painting, as rudimentary sunscreen. But others point out that they were known to have lived in caves and used the pigment of the earth for artistic purposes for tens of thousands of years before “Laschamp’s excursion.”
Are Magnetic Fields Contributing to Drastic Changes in the Global Climate? While the research published by Science has merit, critics conclude, the jury is out on the scientific community at large.
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