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What happens to a planet that fails to complete a magnetic reversal and as a result permenantly loses its magnetosphere.
In order to answer this question we need look no further than the neighbouring planet in our solar system Mars. Through the study of recent impact craters on the surface of mars, magnetic probes /space vehicles with sensitive magnetometers, have found that at some point mars enjoyed the protection of a magnetic field similar to the Earth’s but what is less understood is why it no longer has a magnetic field. Scientist’s however believe that as a result in the loss of mars’ magnetic field the planet did subject itself to a bombardment of solar and galactic rays that stripped away at its atmosphere leaving it after a prolonged period of bombardment looking the way it does today, it could also have been linked to the loss of any liquid water on the surface that was not trapped at its pole as ice. |
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Any loss of a planets protective magnetosphere by any amount poses a real threat not only to the atmosphere or the surface water, but also to any biological life forms across the range. Magnetic fields are a key component for a planet to sustain life, and for that reason it’s a good thing that they occur on average on earth every 350.00 years, that is if we omit the last one which occurred 780.000 years ago. But to be the bearer of bad news unfortunately Earth has begun a magnetic reversal and since the 1900’s the magnetic north pole has been tracking over the northern hemisphere, and recently doing so much faster. Covering more distance in less time, just to point out one other noticeable anomaly is if the Earth went through a reversal every 350.000 years on average, why this time did it take 780.000 years to begin a new reversal, has the dynamics of Earth’s magnetic reversals changed and has the process slowed down, could Earth be losing its ability to hold a life supporting magnetosphere, all the latter questions are at the forefront of our research here on this publicly funded website.