[Newsbot]

Title: B.C. backcountry mobile maps cause concern
Category: Misc CDN
Posted By: Hyack
Date: 2013-06-19 09:06:03
Canadian

[Benn]

No fun using a device either for me. Map and compass when I used to go backwoods. Magnetic north never freezes or crashes.

[ShepherdsDog]

we better hope to Christ Magnetic North doesn't crash or fail

[DrCaleb]

ShepherdsDog ShepherdsDog:

we better hope to Christ Magnetic North doesn't crash or fail

It has in the past.

[raydan]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

ShepherdsDog ShepherdsDog:

we better hope to Christ Magnetic North doesn't crash or fail

It has in the past.

I thought that this was only an hypothesis... and not a very good one.



EDIT: Sorry, I was thinking of something else.

[raydan]

I'm trying to read my compass but I'm having a bit of a problem.

[DrCaleb]

Egg-zactly Ray.

[raydan]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

Egg-zactly Ray.

No proof though that it has caused extinctions or other problems in the past though... but I can guess what it could do on our "stuff".

[DrCaleb]

raydan raydan:

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

Egg-zactly Ray.

No proof though that it has caused extinctions or other problems in the past though... but I can guess what it could do on our "stuff".

It would be too difficult to prove. But geologic records do show the poles flip around every 200,000 years (for the last 20 million years), and there are mass extinctions roughly every 62 million years.

Since the Van Allen belts are why we aren't killed when there is a solar storm, it's reasonable to assume that pole reversal may have played a role in one or more extinction events. Either way, when one happens, you are going to be lost in BC's back country.

[raydan]

Magnetic Polarity Transitions and Biospheric Effects. Historical Perspective and Current Developments

Glassmeier, Karl-Heinz; Vogt, Joachim

Space Science Reviews, Volume 155, Issue 1-4, pp. 387-410

This review addresses possible biospheric effects of geomagnetic polarity transitions. During a transition the magnetic field at the surface of the Earth decreases to about 10% of its current value. If the geomagnetic field is a shield against energetic particles of solar or cosmic origin then biospheric effects can be expected. We review the early speculations on the problem and discuss in more detail its current status. We conclude that no clear picture of a geomagnetic link, a causal relation between secular magnetic field variations and the evolution of life on our planet can be drawn.

[Xort]

I love first world problems.