According to Dr. Nicolas Thouveny, one of the principal investigators for EDIFICE: "The geomagnetic field has been decaying for the last 3,000 years. If it continues to fall down at this rate, in less than one millennium we will be in a critical (period)."
By "critical period," Thouveny means a point where the Earth can no longer protect itself from solar radiation, which can damage not only the multibillion-dollar satellite ecosystem that makes modern digital life possible, but put humans (and astronauts in orbit) at risk. After weakening to critical levels, the magnetic poles will flip, which is actually less dangerous than it is in the movies. "The decrease in geomagnetic field is much more important and dramatic than the reversal," Dr. Thouveny says. "It is very important to understand if the present field will decay to zero in the next century, because we will have to prepare."...read more>>>...
