Missizzy sent me a link to an article that I thought was interesting. I don't think I can quote this article, but he says that in the early morning hours of December 28, the earth's magnetic field formed a crack which allowed solar winds to pour in and caused a geomagnetic storm, intensifying Northern Lights and ground currents in Scandinavia.
http://www.spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=28&month=12&year=2010
That sounds really scary until you look at this:
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2003/03dec_magneticcracks/
Cracks in Earth's Magnetic Shield
Immense cracks in our planet's magnetic field can remain open for hours, allowing the solar wind to gush through and power stormy space weather.
Dec. 3, 2003:Â Earth is surrounded by a magnetic force field--a bubble in space called "the magnetosphere" tens of thousands of miles wide. Although many people don't know it exists, the magnetosphere is familiar. It's a far flung part of the same planetary magnetic field that deflects compass needles here on Earth's surface. And it's important. The magnetosphere acts as a shield that protects us from solar storms.
According to new observations, however, from NASA's IMAGE spacecraft and the joint NASA/European Space Agency Cluster satellites, immense cracks sometimes develop in Earth's magnetosphere and remain open for hours. This allows the solar wind to gush through and power stormy space weather.
Earth's magnetosphere generally does a good job of deflecting the particles and snarled magnetic fields carried by CMEs. Even so, space storms and their vivid effects, like auroras which light up the sky over the polar regions with more than a hundred million watts of power, have long indicated that the shield was not impenetrable.
Fortunately, these cracks don't expose Earth's surface to the solar wind. Our atmosphere protects us, even when our magnetic field doesn't. The effects of solar storms are felt mainly in the high upper atmosphere and the region of space around Earth where satellites orbit.
So, the sun errupts some plasma which causes a crack in our magnetic field, which causes solar storms and northern lights for a few hours, then the hole closes again. Northern Lights are caused by cracks in the magnetic field. Learn sumpin' new every day. Thanks Missizzy. These cracks cause geomagnetic storms:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geomagnetic_storm
Geomagnetic storm
A geomagnetic storm is a temporary disturbance of the Earth's magnetosphere caused by a disturbance in space weather. Associated with solar flares and resultant solar coronal mass ejections (CME), a geomagnetic storm is caused by a solar wind shock wave and/or cloud of magnetic field which typically strikes the Earth's magnetic field 3 days after the event. The solar wind pressure on the magnetosphere and the solar wind magnetic field will increase or decrease depending on the Sun's activity. The solar wind pressure changes modify the electric currents in the ionosphere, and the solar wind's magnetic field interacts with the Earth's magnetic field causing the entire structure to evolve. Magnetic storms usually last 24 to 48 hours, but some may last for many days.[citation needed] In 1989, an electromagnetic storm disrupted power throughout most of Quebec[1] and caused aurorae as far south as Texas.[2]
Geomagnetic storms are what disrupt communications. I can't find anything that says they lead to thunderstorms or bad weather of any kind (on our level). Dunno if the crack could have had an effect on what happened later or not. Is the pole shift causing this? IDK. The pole is always shifting, to the tune of about 25 miles per year. It has always done this and the pole has reversed about 400 times throughout "history".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geomagnetic_reversal
Geomagnetic reversal
At present, the overall geomagnetic field is becoming weaker; the present strong deterioration corresponds to a 10–15% decline over the last 150 years and has accelerated in the past several years; however, geomagnetic intensity has declined almost continuously from a maximum 35% above the modern value achieved approximately 2000 years ago. The rate of decrease and the current strength are within the normal range of variation, as shown by the record of past magnetic fields recorded in rocks.
The nature of Earth's magnetic field is one of heteroscedastic fluctuation. An instantaneous measurement of it, or several measurements of it across the span of decades or centuries, is not sufficient to extrapolate an overall trend in the field strength. It has gone up and down in the past with no apparent reason. Also, noting the local intensity of the dipole field (or its fluctuation) is insufficient to characterize Earth's magnetic field as a whole, as it is not strictly a dipole field. The dipole component of Earth's field can diminish even while the total magnetic field remains the same or increases.
The pole is always shifting. The animals are used to that. I think it would take a sudden shift to cause what they make movies about, and that isn't happening. If we are all around in a hundred years, and the Tampa airport is too, they will probably have to re-mark their taxiways AGAIN. Cause the pole will have moved that far. Some things I saw claim that solar flares cause earthquakes. IDK. I couldn't find a scientific paper which discussed it, maybe I didn't look hard enough. Still, solar flare on Dec 28, now flooding in Brazil and Australia.....possible. Wonder if there was a solar flare before the Haiti earthquake???
Nope:
http://www.spaceweather.com/solarflares/topflares.html
Other things I saw said there was one on January 19, 2010. That was one week after the initial Haiti earthquake......so all this rambling was my way of working through the pole shift question. I think if anything, the pole shifting might be causing weather phenomenon, but not the bird and fish problems, IMO. I think the weather is causing the die offs, but not the way it is being presented. I realize I'm disrespecting the science community by not believing the power line/fireworks explanations, but in the case of the pole shift question, I do believe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cataclysmic_pole_shift_hypothesis
Cataclysmic pole shift hypothesis
The cataclysmic pole shift hypothesis is the conjecture that there have been rapid shifts in the relative positions of the modern-day geographic locations of the poles and the axis of rotation of a planet. For the Earth, such a dynamic change could create calamities such as floods and tectonic events.[1] This type of event would occur if the physical poles had been or would be suddenly shifted with respect to the underlying surface over a geologically short time frame. This hypothesis is almost always discussed in the context of Earth, but other bodies in the Solar System may have experienced axial reorientation during their existences.
Among the scientific community, there is not enough evidence that indicates a rapid change in the position of the rotational axis. There is evidence of precession and changes in axial tilt, but this change is on much longer time-scales and does not involve relative motion of the spin axis with respect to the planet. However, in what is known as true polar wander, the solid Earth can rotate with respect to a fixed spin axis. Research shows that during the last 200 million years a total true polar wander of some 30° has occurred, but that no super-rapid shifts in the Earth's pole were found during this period.[2] A characteristic rate of true polar wander is 1° per million years or less.[3] Between approximately 790 and 810 million years ago, when the supercontinent Rodinia existed, two geologically-rapid phases of true polar wander may have occurred. In each of these, the Earth rotated ~55°.[4]
Wow, sorry for that disjointed post. I just felt we needed to address the pole shift question for throughness sake. :crazy: Please, anyone with better, greater knowledge please show me the error of my thinking.
