The magnetic field is what stops us from being irradiated... During the transition we would lose that defense... However, there's no evidence from previous swaps this has causes mass extinctions.
Warnings for 2012
- Thread starter magick
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The magnetic field is what stops us from being irradiated... During the transition we would lose that defense... However, there's no evidence from previous swaps this has causes mass extinctions.
why would we lose it? it's my understanding that over like I said thousands of years, the field rotates to the opposite position. In what way would that mean that we lost the magnetic field? it would just be differently oriented.
I think a lot of people will use it as an excuse to take a few days off work. Some would also take the opportunity to commit crime on a wide scale, to a point where anarchy would break out.
As I understand it, if electricity is knocked out, the phone network will also get knocked out. If your shop/home is being robbed, you wont even be able to call the Police or any other Emergency service. If a shop is looted/burnt, it would take a while for the Fire service to arrive (as it would take a long while for them to even find out that a shop is on fire).
Radio/TV and all other forms of broadcasting information would taken out. The human population would have no idea what is going on or happening. Many people could well believe that the end of the World is nigh. Some may even believe that we are under attack from aliens. Stories will eventually surface of what may be happening.
During times of panic/uncertainty/doom/armageddon, it is quite normal for looting to occur and people to act irrationally. And this is where the problem lies.
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Because the process of the poles switching takes thousands of years, it isn't instant. During this period, the field weakens considerably.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth's_magnetic_field#Magnetic_field_reversals
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But even then that takes time (no time at all geologically speaking but plenty of time on a human scale) so we would have time to prepare for it. It also doesn't seem to have caused mass extinctions before so it is unlikely to do it again.
erm? the link you posted agrees with what I said that it takes thousands of years, but doesn't mention the field weakening considerably.
That would depend, if it wiped out all electrical equipment in the world (which I can't see as even slightly feasible) then ok, there would be chaos, nothing would work. If it essentially caused national scale powercuts(more feasible, but not in any way likely), there wouldn't be. Hospitals, police stations, phone exchanges, prisons, most large business enterprises all have backup generators
and mine
I hope they have a 5 minute opening ceremony in which they explain that they didn't want to waste taxpayer's money on a pointless opening ceremony that merely delays the start of the competition.
Damn, that will be a problem. I'd better retune my tinfoil hat so I can contact my alien friends who are powerful enough to stop the apocalypse.
So if nothing really bad happens, you can all thank me for saving the world.