I was watching "Naked Science" the other day...The show was about the Earth's magnetic field. It was incredibly interesting and got me thinking quite a bit.
Basically, the magnetic field is the Earth's primary defense against solar radiation. Forces are flung outward from the Earth from the south, and return back in the north (if I remember correctly). This acts as a shield. The sun is constantly hitting the earth with radiation via solar winds and storms. The shield deflects the irradiated particles, forcing them to travel around the Earth, instead of directly into it. Of course, some of the particles make it past the outer layers of the field where it is weakest (What we see as auroras).
There is an anomaly in the field. If I remember correctly, it is in the south Pacific, off the eastern coast of South America. The hole is constantly growing. Basically, it is a weak spot in the armor of the Earth.
Another point I should mention is that the magnetic field of the Earth changes polarity. Essentially, we are long past due for a change. It normally occurs every handful of 100,000s of years...The last time it occurred was roughly 750,000-780,000 years ago. It is going to happen, it is just a matter of when.
Theoretically, what is believed to happen during this shift is that the magnetic field of the Earth would shrink. It would tighten around the globe, thereby allowing the sun's radiation to fall closer and closer to the surface. We could very well see auroras spring up all over the world, not just by the poles...In Paris, New York, Tokyo, etc. Also, the change would not be nice, neat, or quick. The forces would be shot out of the earth erratically...They wouldn't follow the nice south to north pattern that they are now.
So what I'm getting at, is this...Is the anomaly in the southern hemisphere the beginning of the change? Is it the first sign of the erratic behavior? Are we to expect more of these? What will life become when it hits its full swing?
There are so many animals that have built in navigation that utilizes the magnetic fields. It has already been proven that magnetic disruptions on the sea floor affect this navigation system (The result is marine animals becoming confused and usually ending up beaching themselves). When the field is in a complete state of flux, are we going to see entire marine populations decimated? Are we going to see any and all migrating animals head the wrong direction and kill themselves? How fast can evolution occur? Will it happen in time to save all these animals?
If this anomaly is part of the repolarization of the Earth, then is the field already shrinking? If so, is global warming not simply a byproduct of our carelessness? Is it due to these intensely hot, irradiated particles coming closer, and closer to the Earth's surface?
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Wake up early on a Saturday morning?
Blasphemy!
But it had to be done.
So off I go, driving off into the sunrise. 45-50 minutes later, I'm on the bottom of Sunrise Highway. I meet up with my class, we hang around for a while, eventually we head up the road. We go to the Desert View picnic area (The place where we had made smores the weekend before with my bro's family). The teacher shows us how the rain shadow effect works. We head back down to the store for a bathroom break. After a few minutes, we drive back down another couple of miles to the Wooded Hills trail.
It was an ok trail I suppose. Nothing spectacular on it...Then again, we pretty much had to stay on the beaten path..No exploring for me this time around. It wasn't a very long trail, but it took us forever to do it because we kept having to stop and talk about the different things we saw. I was able to show off some of my knowledge, which made me feel good.
"Oh, dwarf mistletoe? Yea, there's some right here"
"Great job!"
*Oh yea!*
3 hours later, we were free to go. Another 45 minutes to get home, made all the more enjoyable by every asshole on the road finding their way into my path. I would love driving if it wasn't for all of the dicks out there. Honestly, is it that hard to signal when you change lanes? Is getting up on my ass, rather than keeping like a one car distance in between us, really going to get you to your destination any faster? Sometimes it feels like I'm the only person on the road that understands that I'm in a one ton death trap
Spent the rest of the day relaxing and resting. I've found that I can push my self really hard for a while and not be immediately tired. The problem is that when I stop moving, my body crashes. The road to recovery is a long and bumpy one.
---------------------------------
I finished A Farewell to Arms last week. It was ok, not my favorite book, but not bad either.
Basically, the magnetic field is the Earth's primary defense against solar radiation. Forces are flung outward from the Earth from the south, and return back in the north (if I remember correctly). This acts as a shield. The sun is constantly hitting the earth with radiation via solar winds and storms. The shield deflects the irradiated particles, forcing them to travel around the Earth, instead of directly into it. Of course, some of the particles make it past the outer layers of the field where it is weakest (What we see as auroras).
There is an anomaly in the field. If I remember correctly, it is in the south Pacific, off the eastern coast of South America. The hole is constantly growing. Basically, it is a weak spot in the armor of the Earth.
Another point I should mention is that the magnetic field of the Earth changes polarity. Essentially, we are long past due for a change. It normally occurs every handful of 100,000s of years...The last time it occurred was roughly 750,000-780,000 years ago. It is going to happen, it is just a matter of when.
Theoretically, what is believed to happen during this shift is that the magnetic field of the Earth would shrink. It would tighten around the globe, thereby allowing the sun's radiation to fall closer and closer to the surface. We could very well see auroras spring up all over the world, not just by the poles...In Paris, New York, Tokyo, etc. Also, the change would not be nice, neat, or quick. The forces would be shot out of the earth erratically...They wouldn't follow the nice south to north pattern that they are now.
So what I'm getting at, is this...Is the anomaly in the southern hemisphere the beginning of the change? Is it the first sign of the erratic behavior? Are we to expect more of these? What will life become when it hits its full swing?
There are so many animals that have built in navigation that utilizes the magnetic fields. It has already been proven that magnetic disruptions on the sea floor affect this navigation system (The result is marine animals becoming confused and usually ending up beaching themselves). When the field is in a complete state of flux, are we going to see entire marine populations decimated? Are we going to see any and all migrating animals head the wrong direction and kill themselves? How fast can evolution occur? Will it happen in time to save all these animals?
If this anomaly is part of the repolarization of the Earth, then is the field already shrinking? If so, is global warming not simply a byproduct of our carelessness? Is it due to these intensely hot, irradiated particles coming closer, and closer to the Earth's surface?
---------------------------------
Wake up early on a Saturday morning?
Blasphemy!
But it had to be done.
So off I go, driving off into the sunrise. 45-50 minutes later, I'm on the bottom of Sunrise Highway. I meet up with my class, we hang around for a while, eventually we head up the road. We go to the Desert View picnic area (The place where we had made smores the weekend before with my bro's family). The teacher shows us how the rain shadow effect works. We head back down to the store for a bathroom break. After a few minutes, we drive back down another couple of miles to the Wooded Hills trail.
It was an ok trail I suppose. Nothing spectacular on it...Then again, we pretty much had to stay on the beaten path..No exploring for me this time around. It wasn't a very long trail, but it took us forever to do it because we kept having to stop and talk about the different things we saw. I was able to show off some of my knowledge, which made me feel good.
"Oh, dwarf mistletoe? Yea, there's some right here"
"Great job!"
*Oh yea!*
3 hours later, we were free to go. Another 45 minutes to get home, made all the more enjoyable by every asshole on the road finding their way into my path. I would love driving if it wasn't for all of the dicks out there. Honestly, is it that hard to signal when you change lanes? Is getting up on my ass, rather than keeping like a one car distance in between us, really going to get you to your destination any faster? Sometimes it feels like I'm the only person on the road that understands that I'm in a one ton death trap
Spent the rest of the day relaxing and resting. I've found that I can push my self really hard for a while and not be immediately tired. The problem is that when I stop moving, my body crashes. The road to recovery is a long and bumpy one.
---------------------------------
I finished A Farewell to Arms last week. It was ok, not my favorite book, but not bad either.
I have since been reading Nightwatch by Sergei Lukyanenko. I love it! I haven't been able to put it down for very long since I've started, and am currently on the 3rd chapter of the last story (About 80 more pages to go...The book is divided into 3 stories). The only thing I don't like about the book is the time gaps between stories. I mean, he more or less tells you what happens between those times at the conclusion of the story, but it still bugs me. I'll give an example without giving away too much:
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Last but not least, I leave you with my current music obsessions. Videos await ye!
Current Mood: Recovering
Currently Listening to: "Teardrop" - Massive Attack
Currently watching: No Reservations, Bizarre foods, Reaper, True Life, House
Currently Playing: Counter-Strike: Source, World of Warcraft
Currently Reading: Nightwatch by Sergei Lukyanenko
Sites: Art MySpace Xanga SuicideGirls Last.FM
