This might sound new to you, but every living thing on our planet is covered by an invisible field. This is Earth’s magnetic field, and for billions of years, it has consistently protected us from harmful cosmic radiation and solar storms. In a disturbing turn of events, scientists are beginning to report strange new irregularities, and in this article, we discuss how they affect us.
An overview of Earth’s invisible magnetic field
Our planet, Earth, is a blue ball floating through space. Deep beneath this blue ball is an invisible line known as the magnetic field, and it protects our planet through the vast violence of space. Without this guardian line, our fragile ball would slowly lose all its atmosphere, which would consequently mean the end of life as we know it.
This line is also known as the geomagnetic field, and it is known to extend from beneath the core of our planet into outer space. However, the source of this field can be traced to the conventional motion of molten iron and nickel within the outer core of Earth. The mechanism of this motion is known as a geodynamo.
Now, while this article wasn’t written to inspire fear, scientists have gathered 11 years’ worth of magnetic field measurements from the European Space Agency’s Swarm satellite constellation. This has led to the discovery of a weak region in the magnetic field within the South Atlantic zone.
Scientists study the weak magnetic region: South Atlantic anomaly
Over the years, scientists have studied the Earth’s magnetic field, and the first time they discovered a weak spot was in the southeastern part of South America. This was uncovered back in the 19th century and is now known as the South Atlantic Anomaly.
Deep within this region, scientists discovered that our protective magnetic field is significantly weaker than any other region on Earth. This observation was recorded with a dynamic expansion and shift in the magnetic field and has left that region exposed to high levels of radiation, which is risky.
According to satellite information from the South Atlantic, the space above has begun to experience severe interference and has even affected several instruments onboard this space station, just like the mysterious Earth signal detected by NASA. Although this occurrence is new, scientists believe the anomaly could be worse deep inside the Earth’s core.
Does this event have any correlation with magnetic pole reversal?
Over the course of researching for a remedy, a group of researchers is now looking for possible connections between this weak spot and the first stage of a magnetic pole reversal. This phenomenon hasn’t occurred in over 780,000 years, and according to experts, the probability of it repeating itself wouldn’t be for another thousand years.
What scientists believe is the next step for humanity
For most of human history, this magnetic field has remained stable and unshaken beneath our feet. But this new disruption has startled researchers and scientists who have continued to monitor the anomaly. Using the Swarm satellite, they have consistently monitored the South Atlantic Anomaly for fresh new insights.
As of now, according to scientists, this anomaly doesn’t pose any direct danger to us here on Earth. But they are still trying to uncover a cause for this weakness. Is it merely a temporary shift or a way for the magnetic field to recalibrate its system? Whatever the cause, scientists have continued to study the magnetic field.
Following this study, researchers from the European Space Agency have teamed up with other international space agencies. This collaboration would allow them to improve existing magnetic models and further our understanding of how the core of our planet interacts with space, just like the groundbreaking Earth’s second moon.