SHOCK ALERT: Hole found in Earth's magnetic field - humanity at risk of cosmic radiation
A HUGE hole has been detected in the Earth’s magnetic shield, leaving millions of human beings vulnerable to deadly cosmic radiation, scientists have warned.
From analysing data from the GRAPES-3 muon telescope in Ooty, India, experts have concluded that the magnetosphere has come under such heavy bombardment in recent years that it weakening.
On June 22, 2015, there was a massive burst of galactic cosmic rays which traumatised the Earth’s magnetic shield for two hours.
Roughly 40 hours before the Earth was bombarded by cosmic rays, the sun ejected a giant cloud of plasma which caused high energy radiation to strike the Earth’s magnetosphere at 2.5 million kilometres per hour.
The storm wreaked havoc on technology with radio signal blackouts reported in North and South America.
Experts from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in India ran several simulations based on the data from the telescope and found that the magnetosphere had been cracked for a little while on the day.
While small amounts of radiation would have little effect on life on Earth, prolonged exposure to higher amounts of radiation can lead to cancer.
This has dangerous implications for the future, the team says.
"[This] indicates a transient weakening of Earth’s magnetic shield, and may hold clues for a better understanding of future superstorms that could cripple modern technological infrastructure on Earth, and endanger the lives of the astronauts in space."
