Friday, July 04, 2008

Pointing North

I hadn't realized that the Earth's field wasn't everywhere even approximately northward, but following up on this article about changing fields pointed to this one mentioning patches of reversed field more than a hundred years old.

I suppose Boy Scout difficulties in orienteering are minor compared to the satellite failures we'd get when the Earth's field drops too far and the solar wind starts toasting them. I wonder how long this reversal is going to take. It could get interesting--might even be some subtle weather changes if more cosmics reach far enough to provide ionization trails for condensation--more clouds or wispier and higher clouds?

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