[Rockhounds] The Mysterious Anomaly Weakening Earth's Magnetic Field Seems to Be Splitting

[Kreigh Tomaszewski]

New satellite data from the European Space Agency (ESA) reveal that
the mysterious
anomaly
<https://www.sciencealert.com/something-mysterious-under-southern-africa-dramatically-weakening-earth-s-magnetic-field-south-atlantic-anomaly>
weakening
Earth's magnetic field continues to evolve, with the most recent
observations showing we could soon be dealing with more than one of these
strange phenomena.

The South Atlantic Anomaly
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Atlantic_Anomaly> is a vast expanse of
reduced magnetic intensity in Earth's magnetic field, extending all the way
from South America to southwest Africa.

Since our planet's magnetic field acts as a kind of shield – protecting
Earth from solar winds and cosmic radiation, in addition to determining the
location of the magnetic poles
<https://www.sciencealert.com/russia-is-stealing-magnetic-north-from-canada-and-this-could-be-what-s-behind-it>
–
any reduction in its strength is an important event we need to monitor
closely, as these changes could ultimately have significant implications
for our planet.

At present, there's nothing to be alarmed about. The ESA notes
<https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Swarm/Swarm_probes_weakening_of_Earth_s_magnetic_field>
that
the most significant effects right now are largely limited to technical
malfunctions on board satellites and spacecraft, which can be exposed to a
greater amount of charged particles in low-Earth orbit as they pass through
the South Atlantic Anomaly in the skies above South America and the South
Atlantic Ocean.

https://www.sciencealert.com/mysterious-anomaly-weakening-earth-s-magnetic-field-seems-to-be-splitting-into-two