Next message: Ken Muldrew: "Compass variation ca. 1800"
<Our current pole situation forms a shield from radiation which is weakest
at
the north and south poles. If we have large areas of anomalies all over the
planet, we also lose shielding in those areas. How will this affect GPS
etc?>
Don't worry about the GPS, Bill. If we lose the magnetic field, we'll lose
our entire "shielding" and we'll be so badly zapped by all kinds of energy
that the GPS will be the least of anyone's concerns. With all the money you
save not buying sextant stock, you can buy deep mine shafts. No magnetic
field for any length of time would mean some serious problems for life as we
know it. Unless it flips real fast...not good at all.
No one really wants to spend the money on the basic science needed to look
into this in real detail, it just isn't sexy enough, or urgent-seeming
enough.
