The Earth’s magnetic fields help sustain life on our planet but they could be the cause of climate change and the extinction of some species.
This is the bold claim made in a scientific paper published in the journal Science this week.
The magazine’s article argues that more than 40,000 years ago atmospheric changes had such a radical effect on the planet that it caused great damage to the environment and even extinct events.
Protecting the Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation, the planet’s magnetic fields play a vital role in conserving life, but they vary in strength with the magnetic poles sometimes even shifting position.
This wonder, critics of what the paper says, it was never closely linked to extinct events or ecological catastrophes in Earth’s history.
How did scientists come up with this theory?
The scientists behind the study studied the rings of kauri trees, a New Zealand species that reach up to 1,000 years old and last for tens of thousands of years in bogs and wetlands, as a basis on their theory.
Using carbon sequestration methods, they found that the trees they studied were over 40,000 years old meaning they were growing at a time called the ‘Laschamp Excursion’.
The second was an event in which the Earth’s magnetic fields weakened dramatically. Studies of the spike wood samples of Carbon-14 in the rings of the trees showed that the Earth had been subjected to high levels of cosmic grains and radiation from space.
The team claims that these particles contributed to the breakdown of the Earth’s Ozone cover which itself has been implicated in global climate change and environmental trends.
Some critics are skeptical
While critics suggest the research throws up interesting research trails, they say the researchers are overshadowing their conclusions.
In particular, their association between climate change and other coincidental events, such as the extinction of Neanderthals and the advancement of solemn cave painting styles.
As for the researchers – they claim that early humans took shelter in caves due to increased radiation and used breeze, the main material used in cave painting, as an awning. sun something. But others say they were known to have lived in caves and used the pigment for art purposes for tens of thousands of years before the ‘Laschamp Excursion’.
Do magnetic fields contribute to major changes in the world’s climate? While there is merit in the research published by Science, critics conclude, the jury appears to be out in the wider scientific community.
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