New research suggests polar shift could be catastrophic – BGR

• The Earth’s magnetic poles are constantly in motion, but they haven’t drifted enough to tip over in the modern age.
• Researchers know that the Earth’s poles have reversed in the past, but opinions have been divided on the effects such an event could have on the planet and its inhabitants.
• Today, new research suggests that a magnetic pole shift about 42,000 years ago brought about dramatic changes and may have changed the course of human history.

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The disaster films have shown us what Hollywood thinks could happen if the Earth’s poles were to suddenly tip over, but the reality of the situation would likely be very different. We don’t know for sure how daily life would be affected if our planet’s magnetic poles suddenly got wobbly, but scientists are constantly looking for evidence of past polar movements in order to get a better idea of ​​what we owe. expect us.

A new study published in Science gives us some useful information thanks to an extremely old tree. The tree, which was still growing when the last magnetic pole shift occurred around 42,000 years ago, hints at dramatic and possibly catastrophic changes in the atmosphere and on the surface of our planet.

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As NPR reports, scientists were able to use a long-dead but well-preserved tree to better understand a vast expanse of Earth’s history. By studying the rings of the tree, scientists have obtained a detailed toll of approximately 1,700 years. This tree was just alive the last time the magnetic pole flipped, and an analysis of the rings suggests it was a tough time for everything living on Earth.

The team was specifically looking for a carbon signature in the tree rings. The type of carbon scientists are looking for is created when cosmic rays are able to strike Earth’s atmosphere. When the Earth’s magnetic field is strong, as it is today, the amount of carbon generated by this interaction is relatively small, but it increases as the magnetic field weakens and lets more cosmic rays through.

Researchers were able to find a wealth of this particular type of carbon in the tree’s rings that would have been produced during the polar shift, suggesting that such an event is directly related to a dramatic change in the strength of the Earth’s magnetic field.

“This record reveals a substantial increase in the carbon-14 content of the peak atmosphere during the period of weakening of the magnetic field strength preceding the change in polarity”, Science Explain. “The authors modeled the consequences of this event and concluded that the geomagnetic field minimum caused substantial changes in atmospheric ozone concentration which resulted in synchronous changes in global climate and the environment.”

The researchers believe that this event would have bathed the Earth in ultraviolet rays due to the weakened magnetic field and the damage to the ozone layer that would have followed. It may even have triggered the extinction of many species. We still have no way of knowing when or why the magnetic poles are turning, but anytime that happens again we could have a hard time.

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