Earth’s magnetic fields help keep life on our planet, but they can also be an engine of climate change and the reason some species have become extinct.
This is the bold statement made in scientific article published in the journal Science this week.
The journal article argues that atmospheric changes more than 40,000 years ago had such a radical impact on the planet that it caused significant environmental damage and even extinction events.
Protecting the Earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation, the planet’s magnetic fields play a vital role in preserving life, but they vary greatly with magnetic poles that even change position.
This phenomenon, critics According to the document, it had never been conclusively related to extinction events or major ecological disasters in Earth’s history.
How did scientists come up with this theory?
The scientists behind the research examined the rings of kauri trees, a species native to New Zealand that is up to 1,000 years old and whose wood survives for tens of thousands of years in swamps and wetlands, such as based on his theory.
Using carbon dating techniques, they found that the trees they examined were more than 40,000 years old, meaning they were growing for a time known as the “Laschamp Excursion.”
The latter was an event in which the Earth’s magnetic fields were significantly weakened. Studies of wood samples showed a rise in carbon-14 in tree rings, suggesting that the Earth had been subjected to high levels of cosmic particles and radiation from space.
The team estimates that these particles contributed to a rupture of the Earth’s ozone layer which in turn triggered changes in global climate and environmental changes.
Some critics are skeptical
While critics suggest that the research launches some interesting avenues of research, they say that researchers are in excess in their findings.
In particular, they relate climate change to other events happening at the same time, such as the extinction of Neanderthals and the advancement of sophisticated rock painting styles.
As for the researchers, they claim that the first humans were sheltered in the caves due to the increase in radiation and that they used ocher, the first material used in rock painting, as a rudimentary sunscreen. But others point out that they were known to live in caves and to use the earth’s pigment for artistic purposes for tens of thousands of years before the Laschamp excursion.
Do magnetic fields contribute to drastic changes in the global climate? While the research published by Science has merit, critics conclude, it appears that the jury is in the wider scientific community.
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