Published 14:38 IST, July 22nd 2020
Does the South Atlantic Anomaly suggest that Earth's Magnetic Poles could flip? Find out
Researchers in recent years have claimed that Earth's Magnetic Field is about to reverse or "flip". Find out if the strange phenomenon will occur soon.
Scientists have been debating over Earth's Magnetic Field for many decades now. Moreover, it is also a subject of mystery and confusion amongst people as very little is known about it. However, in recent years, researchers and scientists across the world have started linking a phenomenon called South Atlantic Anomaly with Earth's Magnetic Field. According to a science portal, some scientists have claimed that the South Atlantic Anomaly might actually lead to a reversal or a "flip" in Earth's magnetic field. Read to know if this is true.
South Atlantic Anomaly Explained
To understand the possible connection between The South Atlantic Anomaly and Earth’s Magnetic field, one has to understand what the South Atlantic Anomaly is. The South Atlantic Anomaly which is popularly also known as SAA is an area where the Earth's inner zone, which contains charged energetic particles, comes closest to Earth’s surface. This peculiar phenomenon occurs when Earth’s surface dips down to an altitude of 120 miles or 200 kilometres. Following this action of dipping down is the influx of energetic particles in this region.
Image credit: NASA
Earth’s Magnetic Field Explained
Earth's Magnetic Field extends up to mind-boggling tens of thousands of kilometres into space. In fact, the Magnetosphere that everybody read about in their school Geography textbooks as kids, is formed as a result of Earth's incredibly strong magnetic field. According to the reports of a science portal, a paleo-magnetic study which was conducted in Australia’s red dacite and pillow basalt has estimated that Earth’s magnetic field at least 3.5 billion years old.
Image credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Duberstein
Is Earth’s Magnetic field about to flip?
In recent years, some scientists have been suggesting that Earth’s magnetic field is about to flip for the first time in more than 700,000 years. According to the reports of a science portal, if this does in fact occur, it could bring chaos in day to day life on Earth. However, some new studies conducted by the University of Liverpool, England suggest that but new research from the suggests that the Earth’s Magnetic Field “flip” is not happening any time soon.
Image credit: NASA
What brought researchers to this conclusion is an analysis they made of the South Atlantic anomaly, which is a magnetic “weak point” over the ocean. Earlier, many researchers were led to believe that the South Atlantic Anomaly itself could cause the reversal of Earth’s Magnetic field. But, according to the reports of a scientific portal, the anomaly has existed for up to 11 million years. And never in the past has it led to a reversal of Earth’s magnetic field.
Within the area where the South Atlantic Anomaly occurs, protection from harmful radiation from space is drastically reduced. This often causes technical malfunctions in satellites and spacecraft that pass over or around the region. Reports of a space portal also claim that the South Atlantic Anomaly because has been around for a long time. Thus, it is a recurring feature not a symptom of the impending reversal of Earth’s magnetic field. The South Atlantic Anomaly is a topic of debate and disagreements amongst many scientists in this field.
Updated 14:38 IST, July 22nd 2020