There is an increasing weakness in the Earth’s magnetic field. What does it mean?

It would be an exaggeration to say that the Earth’s magnetic field is important. It’s one of the reasons we’re able to live on this rock rolling through space, and it’s… It gives us the amazing aurora borealis. So it’s a pretty big deal when it changes – and such a change is happening now in the South Atlantic, where the weakest point in the magnetic field appears to be growing.

The European Space Agency has spent 11 years studying the magnetic field through the agency’s Operation Swarm. Part of the mission was to measure and monitor the South Atlantic Anomaly, an apparent weakness in the Earth’s magnetic field located over South America. This was the original It was discovered in 1958 When satellites first began measuring radiation around the Earth, their presence was nothing new.

However, data from the Swarm mission shows that weak point It’s been growing fastAnd expanding its presence across the Atlantic Ocean towards Africa.

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Why does the weak point grow?

According to the European Space Agency, this phenomenon can be best explained by strange behaviors far inside the Earth at the boundary where the Earth’s liquid outer core meets the rocky mantle. These boundaries, referred to as reverse flux spots, act strangely and cause the magnetic field in that one spot to weaken.

“Normally, we would expect to see magnetic field lines emerging from the core in the Southern Hemisphere,” says CC Finley, lead author of the paper. the study Professor of terrestrial magnetism at the Technical University of Denmark. “But beneath the South Atlantic anomaly, we see unexpected regions where the magnetic field, instead of leaving the core, returns to the core. Thanks to the Swarm data, we can see one of these regions moving westward over Africa, contributing to a weakening of the South Atlantic anomaly in this region.”

In addition to the anomaly in the South Atlantic, the Swarm mission also showed that the stronger section of the magnetic field over Canada has also become weaker, while the part over Siberia has become stronger.

Danger to satellites everywhere

The weak zone will not have a significant impact on humans, as the atmosphere primarily deals with elements that affect the Earth’s surface. like NASA saysThe weakness is still within what scientists consider “normal variation,” and therefore daily life is not affected.

However, objects in low Earth orbit are not so lucky. According to the European Space Agency, Satellites Other spacecraft passing through the area will face higher radiation exposure that “could lead to malfunctions or damage to critical equipment, and even power outages.”

As Finley noted in the study, space agencies take SAA into account when building modern spacecraft, satellites, and other space technology, so not only are existing satellites at risk of damage, but the widening vulnerability will also affect how Future satellites and spacecraft are designed.

The European Space Agency says the Swarm mission will continue to collect data about Earth’s magnetic field for the foreseeable future.

“It’s really cool to see the big picture of our dynamic Earth thanks to Swarm’s extended timeline,” says Anja Ström, ESA’s Swarm mission manager. “All of the satellites are intact and providing excellent data, so we hope we can extend this record beyond 2030, when solar minimum will allow for more unprecedented insights into our planet.”