(no subject)
So I'm reading the newspaper this morning, and I run across this article about the collapse of Earth's magnetic field. Unlike other changes in the Earth's environment, this change is not motivated or accelarated by human environmental malfesiance. Here are some quotes:
"The collapse of the Earth's magnetic field, which both guards the planet and guides many of its creatures, appears to have started in earnest about 150 years ago. The field's strength has waned 10 to 15 percent, and the deterioration has accelerated of late, increasing debate over whether it portends a reversal of the lines of magnetic force that normally envelop the Earth.
During a reversal, the main field weakens, almost vanishes, then reappears with opposite polarity. Afterward, compass needles that normally point north would point south, and during the thousands of years of transition, much in the heavens and Earth would go askew."
"But experts said the repercussions would fall short of catastrophic, despite a few proclamations of doom and sketchy evidence of past links between field reversals and species extinctions."
"No matter what the new findings, the public has no reason to panic, scientists say. Even if a flip is imminent, it might take 2,000 years to mature. The last one took place 780,000 years ago, when Homo erectus was still learning how to make stone tools."
"On a planetary scale, the magnetic field helps shield the Earth from solar winds and storms of deadly particles."
"A weak field, they reported in December, could let solar storms pummel the atmosphere with enough radiation to destroy significant amounts of the ozone that protects the Earth from harmful ultraviolet light.
Ultraviolet radiation, the short, invisible rays from the sun, can harm some life forms, depress crop yields and raise cancer rates, causing skin cancer and cataracts in humans. Dr. Jackman said that the ozone damage from any one solar storm could heal naturally in two to three years but that the protective layer would stay vulnerable to new bursts of radiation as long as the Earth's magnetic field remained weak."
Hmmm, sounds pretty scary to me in combination with things like global warming, though! The real thing I wanted to point out is the "no big deal" attitude of the scientists: since it could be 2,000 years in the future, there is no sense in worrying about it now! This seems to be an all to prevalent feeling among people in general. Some scientist will say, "Hey, if we don't cut down on CO2 emmissions from factories, we can warm up our atmospere to the point where the ice caps will melt and the change is irreversible!" And people will respond, "Well, I don't see the oceans rising so let's let Baby Bush chop down more trees* and get rid of enviromental restrictions in manufacturing!" I just don't understand! It's one thing to say, "eh, there's nothing we can do about that!" and another entirely to say "Fuck it, lets build CO2 production plants by burning old wood trees!"
*Have you heard about the lifting of road building restrictions in the national parks???
PS: If you haven't seen the photography of Emmet Gowin (specifically from his book Changing the Earth), I would encourage you to do so. It really is beautiful stuff.
"The collapse of the Earth's magnetic field, which both guards the planet and guides many of its creatures, appears to have started in earnest about 150 years ago. The field's strength has waned 10 to 15 percent, and the deterioration has accelerated of late, increasing debate over whether it portends a reversal of the lines of magnetic force that normally envelop the Earth.
During a reversal, the main field weakens, almost vanishes, then reappears with opposite polarity. Afterward, compass needles that normally point north would point south, and during the thousands of years of transition, much in the heavens and Earth would go askew."
"But experts said the repercussions would fall short of catastrophic, despite a few proclamations of doom and sketchy evidence of past links between field reversals and species extinctions."
"No matter what the new findings, the public has no reason to panic, scientists say. Even if a flip is imminent, it might take 2,000 years to mature. The last one took place 780,000 years ago, when Homo erectus was still learning how to make stone tools."
"On a planetary scale, the magnetic field helps shield the Earth from solar winds and storms of deadly particles."
"A weak field, they reported in December, could let solar storms pummel the atmosphere with enough radiation to destroy significant amounts of the ozone that protects the Earth from harmful ultraviolet light.
Ultraviolet radiation, the short, invisible rays from the sun, can harm some life forms, depress crop yields and raise cancer rates, causing skin cancer and cataracts in humans. Dr. Jackman said that the ozone damage from any one solar storm could heal naturally in two to three years but that the protective layer would stay vulnerable to new bursts of radiation as long as the Earth's magnetic field remained weak."
Hmmm, sounds pretty scary to me in combination with things like global warming, though! The real thing I wanted to point out is the "no big deal" attitude of the scientists: since it could be 2,000 years in the future, there is no sense in worrying about it now! This seems to be an all to prevalent feeling among people in general. Some scientist will say, "Hey, if we don't cut down on CO2 emmissions from factories, we can warm up our atmospere to the point where the ice caps will melt and the change is irreversible!" And people will respond, "Well, I don't see the oceans rising so let's let Baby Bush chop down more trees* and get rid of enviromental restrictions in manufacturing!" I just don't understand! It's one thing to say, "eh, there's nothing we can do about that!" and another entirely to say "Fuck it, lets build CO2 production plants by burning old wood trees!"
*Have you heard about the lifting of road building restrictions in the national parks???
PS: If you haven't seen the photography of Emmet Gowin (specifically from his book Changing the Earth), I would encourage you to do so. It really is beautiful stuff.