Earths Magnetic Field

Discussion in 'Astronomy, Exobiology, & Cosmology' started by KilljoyKlown, Mar 21, 2011.

  1. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    In many of the programs that talk about the planets, they claim that if Earth lost it's magnetic field we would also lose our atmosphere do to the solar wind slowly waring it away. They cite Mars as an example of this, but they conveniently leave Venus out of the discussion. Venus has no magnetic field, it's closer to the sun than both Earth and Mars, also it has less gravity than Earth and it has a larger more dense atmosphere than Earth.

    If what they said about Earths magnetic field and atmosphere were true, I want a good explanation of how Venus is the way it is.
     
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  3. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    Unlike Earth, Venus lacks a magnetic field. Its ionosphere separates the atmosphere from outer space and the solar wind. This ionized layer excludes the solar magnetic field, giving Venus a distinct magnetic environment. This is considered Venus' induced magnetosphere. Lighter gases, including water vapor, are continuously blown away by the solar wind through the induced magnetotail. It is speculated that the atmosphere of Venus up to around 4 billion years ago was more like that of the Earth with liquid water on the surface.

    WIKI
     
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  5. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    I hate to speculate about anything 4 billion years ago, and I truly don't want to find out how bad not having a magnetic field would be. I just think they should do a better job when they do scientific programs on TV. Do you ever notice that the number of stars in our galaxy changes almost with every program? Sometimes it's just around 100 billion, I mostly hear about 200 billion, but have also heard about 400 billion. So I guess any big number out of the hat will do.
     
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  7. OnlyMe Valued Senior Member

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    If the earth lost its magnetic field the atmospheric loss would be of little concern, as we would be exposed to enough ionizing radiation to effectively wipe out most higher life forms... Including us.

    The number of stars in the universe is directly proportional to our depth and clarity of observation, as well as estimates of how many 'dark stars' there might be. Fairly recently the number of brown dwarf stars went up significantly. There aren't more we just have better means to identify them and estimate total ratios.
     
  8. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    Yes that sounds bad. We are do for a magnetic reversal and some say that for some period of time we might not have any magnetic field. Sense none of the major extinction events have been associated with a magnetic reversal, I'm not to worried. But would like to hear how others feel about it.

    I'm sure what you are saying is true, but TV commentators always round off to the nearest 100 billion and that's a bit much even for better observations.
     
  9. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    Perhaps they find new ones and just keep adding them as they find them. If you'll look at the dates the shows were made you'll see sometimes they are over 10 years old and new data is being recieved daily to add onto the newer shows that are being made today. :shrug:
     
  10. cosmictraveler Be kind to yourself always. Valued Senior Member

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    Little concern, it would be a big concern I'd think if we knew that was going to happen soon. There should be a way of making a shield between the earth and sun to protect us from that happening, if it ever comes to that. We have very bright scientists that might figure out a way to use some type of a transparent shield, like bullet proof glass, to deflect the bad particles and allow in the good ones. At least I'd hope they would try to design something to help instead of just watching us go down the drain without a fight. :shrug:
     
  11. Walter L. Wagner Cosmic Truth Seeker Valued Senior Member

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    Not so.

    The Earth routinely loses its magnetic field roughly every 200,000 years, during the pole-reversal process. It can be 'down' for millenia, or for only a few hours, depending. There have been several threads on this. Currently, the Earth's field is decreasing at the highest rate in recorded history (going back several centuries). Since the Earth is 'overdue' for a reversal by about 250,000 years, we might be at the beginning of a reversal. Higher forms of life did not die out during previous reversals, and they should not now. Rather, we might experience a slightly higher mutation rate, with an increase in ability for speciation divergence, though this is likely only a minor factor in evolution. Only if the magnetic field were down for millions of years would there become a significant erosion of atmosphere, which is what is believed to have happened to Mars some 3-4 billion years ago.
     
  12. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    I agree with your assessment of the situation, however that won't stop many from panicking when it happens.
     
  13. zerozenones Registered Member

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    Does any of our tech still rely heavilly on the magnetic field? I can do without my compass for a century or two but dont take my internet!!!
     
  14. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    Not much if any, compasses will be all over the place for a time as magnetic hotspots will be moving around during the interval of the reversal however long it takes. Animals that use the magnetic field during migrations will be in big trouble. More solar radiation will reach Earths surface which will play hell with our electrical grid and electronics. Plus if Murphy's Law is in effect this will all be happening during a most inconvenient time for humans.
     

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