So that's how you Canadians plan to take over North America! Anyway your plan might not be working since the temp dropped 30 degrees F last night and the low tonight is gong to be only 5 degrees F.
Yeah I saw that Nova special too. The other side affect of a weakened magnetic field would be you could see Aurora Borealis from pretty much anywhere. The movie The Core was on the same subject. A pretty all around bad movie except for Hilary Swank.
Well, the big issue besides rising cancer rates is that once the flip occurs, it leaves our satellite infrastructure totally vulnerable to the solar wind and there's a chance that they could all get knocked out by the sheer force of the solar wind and that would probably create slight pains in assholes.
We don’t want it to happen for a while yet. We haven’t built the fence along our southern border yet.
You are correct. Thus the old analogy that the environmentalist is in the back seat of a car driving too fast down a dangerously steep hill. The environmentalist pleads for those driving to stop, or at a minimum, slow down. jo mama, I am also a huge fan of the mayan culture. Very neat and beautiful civilization. It's interesting (ironic anyhow, given the discussion) to note that the Mayans killed themselves off by living beyond what their environment could support. In particular, the massive city of Copan is a textbook example of population growth leading to irreversible and deadly consequences. The cliff notes version of Copan (for the interested/bored): Copan relied heavily on a series of five lowland areas on the curves of a river. Surrounding these five agricultural bastions was a series of forested hills with poor soil. Farming of the pockets intensified as the city grew; forcing occupants to eventually move out to the hills. However, archeological evidence suggests that this expansion was short-lived; no doubt due to the lack of viable farming and the leaching of what little nutrients were in the soil as rainwater eroded the sediment. This erosion was the result of rapid deforestation for the facilitation of farming and fuel. Accordingly, the lack of surrounding forest may have led to limited rainfall for the lower areas since forests play a large role in water cycles. Subsequently, the already strained river farming areas started to decline in productivity; signs of malnutrition and warfare among the peasants for farming land are evident within this time period. Eventually, this stress and anger was turned against the king and the nobility, culminating in the burning of the palace. As the society continued to collapse under the burden of warfare and famine, the entire valley rapidly depopulated until all signs of human influence ceased within 200-300 years from a peak population of 27,000. The systematic collapse of Mayan society can be outlined similarly for each independent kingdom: rapid population growth resulting in agricultural and environmental degradation and culminating in cultural breakdown and eventual doom.
If you step back and de-pesonalize the tragedy of a huge population decline (it would happen over many generations, there would be a gradual adaptation to changing enviromental conditions, it's not like there aren't outrageous events of huge proportions happening everyday now), it could be a positive change in the evolution of mankind. Is there anyone who doesn't think there are too many people on the planet right now? What is the advantage of expanding cities that already have 10,20, or 40 million people in them? One thing that is pretty clear in human history is the population density promotes conflict (you could argue that conflict necessitates the development human order and of the codes of civiliation, I guess) If mankind had to develop a widely dispersed, high mechanized, low impact population it might make for a more actualized life for everyone (quality vs. quantity) You know you run into problems with too much of anything...even Tribbles. //not quite as nerdy as all that sounds...no I don't have any children
i dont believe i have said i "buy it". i am fascinated by it though. i am curious to see what happens.
its been awhile since i read up on it, but i think they were able to measure magnetic flips in the solar field thru sunspot cycles, which are measureable occurences. i dont believe that the mayans were saying "hey lets measure magnetic flips" b/c i dont think they knew what they were, but it corresponds to what they were studying, which is the sunspot cycles and solar flare-ups. copernicus (m.s.?) was able to study them in the 1600's and he didnt have satelites either.
The flip doesn't mean we have no magnetic field just that the polarity is reversed. While the flip is occuring though the field is weak and chaotic. We will certainly have trouble with the sattelites then but since the flip might take a 100 years we have some time to do something about it.
May be a low priority though, since intense solar radiation would hit the upper atmosphere, hosing climates; and migratory animals would be absolutely lost, prompting huge die-outs. Rough times.
I think I may have said this in the past somewhere, but you sound like you've read a lot of L. E. Modisett Jr.'s hard SF. It's all loosely connected together, and built around exactly what you're talking about... consequences, and how they're dealt with, concerning the environment in the future. A future not getting all that far away. If you haven't read his SF (he also writes fantasy, but in a much different style), you should. Good stuff. D&D. Are You Reading Good Fiction? Besides the BBS?
Off topic, but I take issue with the books of Mr. Modisett being described as either 'hard' or 'good' science fiction.
I would be the last person to tell you that you cannot have a contrary and wrong opinion. It is certainly your right. I respect it. One can argue over whether global warming and climate change are actually occuring, and that makes up a good deal of Mr. Modisett's SF, in one form, or another, but to say it isn't good tells me that either you haven't read much of his work, or our appreciation for the diverse styles of SF depart a great deal. D&D. Read a Book Today.
According to the Nova special the magnetic field while weakened would still be there anyway even without the magnetic field our atmosphere will still be around for a 1000 years or more to sheild many of the worse affects. This won't be like The Core where holes in the magnetic field suddenly leads to radiation intense enough to melt the Golden Gate Bridge. Earth's magnetic field has flipped several times over the course that life has been on the planet and I'm not aware or that it has been associated with huge die outs.
I've never seen the core, and I was not advoacting any of its lunacy. A flipping or "chaotic" magnetosphere will allow excess radiation into the atmosphere, and cause subsequent heating. No, it will probably not boil the atmosphere away or anything, (incidentally, that is the leading theory on the lack of atmosphere on Mars) but it will perturb climate significantly. As for die-outs, that's more of an assumption on my part - but many animals are incredibly dependent upon, and sensitive to, the magnetic field.
