CANADA: After they studied dozens of ancient volcanic rocks on the Galapagos Islands a group of MIT and Columbia University researchers concluded that Earth’s magnetic field won’t flip…at least not in the next 1,000 years. The findings are at odds with previous research that had revealed that the weakness in the geomagnetic field was an omen that that the planetary flip out was about to occur. Predicting flips in polarity is important for at least two reasons.
First, the magnetic field shields us from harmful solar radiation and cosmic rays, so if the field keeps waning during the process of flipping, which may take up to a millennium to complete, every living creature on Earth would be exposed to more radiation.
The outcomes are not yet fully understood, but researchers suspect that increased radiation exposure may lead to serious health outcomes and even genetic disorders. Some biologists believe that it may trigger even mass extinctions as it happened in the past during similar events.
The second reason of concern is that magnetic field flips may severely disrupt our satellites, power grids, mobile networks and technology in general. Some people even speculate about a post-apocalyptic scenario in a world with no technology in it. Yet such scenarios are farfetched, scientists think.
