Video - Sun has ‘flipped upside down’ as new magnetic cycle begins.

The sun has “flipped upside down,” with its north and south poles reversed to reach the midpoint of Solar Cycle 24, NASA has said. 

Now, the magnetic fields will once again started moving in opposite directions to begin the completion of the 22 year long process which will culminate in the poles switching once again. “A reversal of the sun’s magnetic field is, literally, a big event,” said NASA’s Dr. Tony Phillips.

“The domain of the sun’s magnetic influence (also known as the ‘heliosphere’) extends billions of kilometers beyond Pluto. Changes to the field’s polarity ripple all the way out to the Voyager probes, on the doorstep of interstellar space.” 

To mark the event, NASA has released a visualization of the entire process. At the beginning, in 1997 the video shows the sun in Solar Cycle 23 with its positive polarity on the top (the green lines), and the negative polarity on the bottom (the purple lines). Each set of lines gradually move toward the opposite pole, showing a complete flip around 2002, completing the sun’s previous cycle. Both set of lines representing the opposing magnetic fields then begin to work their way back, to culminate in the latest flip. 

“At the height of each magnetic flip, the sun goes through periods of more solar activity, during which there are more sunspots, and more eruptive events such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections,” said NASA’s Karen C. Fox. “Cosmic rays are also affected,” added Dr. Phillips. “These are high-energy particles accelerated to nearly light speed by supernova explosions and other violent events in the galaxy.” –Independent UK

Video - NASA – The Sun’s Magnetic Field is about to Flip.

NASA – The Sun’s Magnetic Field is about to Flip.

It looks like we’re no more than 3 to 4 months away from a complete field reversal,” says NASA press release. Before the end of this year!

Something big is about to happen on the sun, the press release begins. According to measurements from NASA-supported observatories, the sun’s vast magnetic field is about to flip.

“It looks like we’re no more than 3 to 4 months away from a complete field reversal,” says solar physicist Todd Hoeksema of Stanford University. “This change will have ripple effects throughout the solar system.”

A new ScienceCast video anticipates the reversal of the sun’s global magnetic field.

The sun’s magnetic field changes polarity approximately every 11 years. It happens at the peak of each solar cycle as the sun’s inner magnetic dynamo re-organizes itself. The coming reversal will mark the midpoint of Solar Cycle 24. Half of ‘Solar Max’ will be behind us, with half yet to come.

Hoeksema is the director of Stanford’s Wilcox Solar Observatory, one of the few observatories in the world that monitor the sun’s polar magnetic fields. The poles are a herald of change. Just as Earth scientists watch our planet’s polar regions for signs of climate change, solar physicists do the same thing for the sun. Magnetograms at Wilcox have been tracking the sun’s polar magnetism since 1976, and they have recorded three grand reversals—with a fourth in the offing.

wilcox_med Astronomers at the Wilcox Solar Observatory (WSO) monitor the sun’s global magnetic field on a daily basis. Solar physicist Phil Scherrer, also at Stanford, describes what happens: “The sun’s polar magnetic fields weaken, go to zero, and then emerge again with the opposite polarity. This is a regular part of the solar cycle.”

A reversal of the sun’s magnetic field is, literally, a big event. The domain of the sun’s magnetic influence (also known as the “heliosphere”) extends billions of kilometers beyond Pluto. Changes to the field’s polarity ripple all the way out to the Voyager probes, on the doorstep of interstellar space.

When solar physicists talk about solar field reversals, their conversation often centers on the “current sheet.” The current sheet is a sprawling surface jutting outward from the sun’s equator where the sun’s slowly-rotating magnetic field induces an electrical current. The current itself is small, only one ten-billionth of an amp per square meter (0.0000000001 amps/m2), but there’s a lot of it: the amperage flows through a region 10,000 km thick and billions of kilometers wide. Electrically speaking, the entire heliosphere is organized around this enormous sheet.

During field reversals, the current sheet becomes very wavy. Scherrer likens the undulations to the seams on a baseball. As Earth orbits the sun, we dip in and out of the current sheet. Transitions from one side to another can stir up stormy space weather around our planet.

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An artist’s concept of the heliospheric current sheet, which becomes more wavy when the sun’s magnetic field flips. Cosmic rays are also affected. These are high-energy particles accelerated to nearly light speed by supernova explosions and other violent events in the galaxy. Cosmic rays are a danger to astronauts and space probes, and some researchers say they might affect the cloudiness and climate of Earth. The current sheet acts as a barrier to cosmic rays, deflecting them as they attempt to penetrate the inner solar system. A wavy, crinkly sheet acts as a better shield against these energetic particles from deep space.

As the field reversal approaches, data from Wilcox show that the sun’s two hemispheres are out of synch.

“The sun’s north pole has already changed sign, while the south pole is racing to catch up,” says Scherrer. “Soon, however, both poles will be reversed, and the second half of Solar Max will be underway.”

When that happens, Hoeksema and Scherrer will share the news with their colleagues and the public.

Stay tuned to Science@NASA for updates. Credits:

Author:Dr. Tony Phillips| Production editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/05aug_fieldflip/

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/08/05/the-sun-is-about-to-have-a-flipping-magnetic-field-reversal/#more-91034

http://www.spaceweather.com/

Why should increasing volcanic activity concern us?

Why should increasing volcanic activity concern us? HT: IceAgeNow.

Look at the number of catastrophes – including intensive volcanism – that have befallen our planet in almost perfect sync with equinoctial precession during the last 34,000 years alone:

34,000 years ago. 

Lake Mungo (Australia) magnetic excursion. Extinction.  Short-term ice build-up, then ice age ends abruptly. Lake  Missoula flood. Lake Bonneville flood. Beryllium spike.  Intensive volcanism.  Neanderthal disappears. 

23,000 years ago. 

Mono Lake magnetic excursion. Extinction. Ice age begins abruptly. European elephant disappears. Mammoths  clobbered. Carbon-14 spike. Beryllium spike. Major volcanism. The Mono Lake event actually straddles a layer of ash. 

11,000 years ago. 

Gothenburg magnetic excursion. Extinction; 72% of large mammal species go extinct, only 10% of small mammal species disappear. Rapid and severe ice build-up, then ice age ends in less than 20 years. Today’s warm period begins. Spikes in carbon-14, beryllium, and many other elements. Earthquakes in Scotland, Canada, and Scandinavia. Tectonic uplift along Nile, possibly worldwide. Exposed beds south of Göteburg uplift. Sea temperatures rise 10°F to 18°F. Gulf of Mexico flood. Lake Bonneville flood. Alberta’s badlands flood. Connecticut River flood. Lake Missoula flood. St. Lawrence River flood.  Nile River flood.  Many other superfloods. Worldwide volcanism. Mexican volcanism firmly dated at 11,580 years). Germany’s West Eiffel fields erupt. Mount St. Helens ash interlayered with Lake Missoula flood deposits, indicating simultaneous events). Glacier Peak, Washington, erupts. Alaskan volcanism of tremendous proportions. In Alaska and Siberia, ash lies interspersed through the piles of mammoth bones themselves. Mt. Katla, Iceland, erupts.

And that brings us to today, a period of rising sea levels, rising lake levels, rising sea temperatures, rising seismic activity, rising volcanic activity, and the worst floods in more than 500 years.
Here we sit, with the next beat of the ice-age cycle staring us in the face, while the President of the United States prattles on about global warming.

Excerpts from Not by Fire but by Ice, p 199).

Hmmmm......What would be the mathematical Odds of another World wide cataclysm happening around this time period?Read the full story here.

Ooooops - German researcher: "The End Might Actually Come on Christmas Eve."

Ooooops - German researcher: "The End Might Actually Come on Christmas Eve."(Spiegel).By Nina Weber. Open your presents early this year. Even though the world showed no signs of ending on Friday, the Mayan calendar is notoriously tricky. One German researcher says that Dec. 24th could be the big day. Then again, the Mayans were never particularly good at making predictions. "Two-thousand-twelve was a very interesting year for Mayan research," says Nikolai Grube of the University of Bonn, one of the leading experts on Mesoamerican advanced civilizations. But the interest had nothing to do with Dec. 21.
Among other things, at excavation sites in Xultun in Guatemala, researchers discovered the room of a scribe -- a particularly interesting find according to Grube. The walls of the room are covered with numbers and images. They are calendar calculations that confirm that the Mayans operated with numerous astronomical cycles, including those of Mars, Venus and Mercury. They also tried to predict solar and lunar eclipses. The Mayan's deep interest in astronomy has long been known, as has their use of planetary cycles in the so-called post-classical period -- the same era in which the famed 11th or 12th century Dresden Codex was created.
But the scribe's room in Xultan has now confirmed suspicions that such activity began much earlier. The writing on the wall originates from the year 814. But by then, the advanced civilization was already at the edge of the abyss. Strife between to major cities, and later among several smaller ones, had weakened the Mayans. It was, one might think, the perfect time to predict the end of the world. As it happens, however, they didn't. At least not for Dec. 21, 2012. 
The date is the end of the so-called baktun, comparable to the millennial change in our own calendar that was celebrated by people around the world on Dec. 31, 1999. A baktun is a unit of time in the ancient Maya Long Count Calendar. This existed in addition to a calendar based on the solar year, which includes 365 days, as well as a calendar of rituals that repeats itself every 260 days. In the long count calendar, time is divided into ever longer phases. A baktun represents 144,000 days, or around 394 years. The Mayan calendar began around 5,125 years ago. According to their mythology, that was the time when this world was created. But they also believed that other worlds had existed previously. Still, matching up our own, present-day calendar with that of the Mayans is not a precise exercise, and a deviation of a few days is conceivable. Grube says it is even plausible that the end of the 13th baktun might not be on Dec. 21 but instead on Dec. 24.Hmmmm.....Oooooops.Read the full story here.

We're Still here, but what's up with the Magnetic poles?

"For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape." ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:3.

Current Magnetic Field of Earth:

Scientists link rapid geomagnetic field reversal, climate change, and supervolcanic eruptions to same geological time period.

Earth's Magnetic Field.

Scientists link rapid geomagnetic field reversal, climate change, and supervolcanic eruptions to same geological time period.(TEP).An extremely brief reversal of the geomagnetic field, climate variability and a supervolcanic eruption. 41,000 years ago, a complete and rapid reversal of the geomagnetic field occurred.
Magnetic studies of the GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences on sediment cores from the Black Sea show that during this period, during the last ice age, a compass at the Black Sea would have pointed to the south instead of north. Moreover, data obtained by the research team formed around GFZ researchers Dr. Norbert Nowaczyk and Prof. Helge Arz, together with additional data from other studies in the North Atlantic, the South Pacific and Hawaii, prove that this polarity reversal was a global event.
Their results are published in the latest issue of the scientific journal “Earth and Planetary Science Letters.” What is remarkable is the speed of the reversal: “The field geometry of reversed polarity, with field lines pointing into the opposite direction when compared to today’s configuration, lasted for only about 440 years, and it was associated with a field strength that was only one quarter of today’s field,” explains Norbert Nowaczyk. “The actual polarity changes lasted only 250 years. In terms of geological time scales, that is very fast.”
During this period, the field was even weaker, with only 5% of today’s field strength. As a consequence, the Earth nearly completely lost its protection shield against hard cosmic rays, leading to a significantly increased radiation exposure. This is documented by peaks of radioactive beryllium (10Be) in ice cores from this time, recovered from the Greenland ice sheet. 10Be as well as radioactive carbon (14C) is caused by the collision of high-energy protons from space with atoms of the atmosphere. The polarity reversal now found with the magnetisation of Black Sea sediments has already been known for 45 years. It was first discovered after the analysis of the magnetisation of several lava flows near the village Laschamp near Clermont-Ferrand in the Massif Central, which differed significantly from today’s direction of the geomagnetic field. Since then, this geomagnetic feature is known as the ‘Laschamp event.’ However, the data of the Massif Central represent only some point readings of the geomagnetic field during the last ice age, whereas the new data from the Black Sea give a complete image of geomagnetic field variability at a high temporal resolution. 
Besides giving evidence for a geomagnetic field reversal 41,000 years ago, the geoscientists from Potsdam discovered numerous abrupt climate changes during the last ice age in the analyzed cores from the Black Sea, as it was already known from the Greenland ice cores.
This ultimately allowed a high precision synchronization of the two data records from the Black Sea and Greenland. The largest volcanic eruption on the Northern hemisphere in the past 100 000 years, namely the eruption of the super volcano 39400 years ago in the area of today’s Phlegraean Fields near Naples, Italy, is also documented within the studied sediments from the Black Sea. The ashes of this eruption, during which about 350 cubic kilometers of rock and lava were ejected, were distributed over the entire eastern Mediterranean and up to central Russia. These three extreme scenarios, a short and fast reversal of the Earth’s magnetic field, short-term climate variability of the last ice age and the volcanic eruption in Italy, have been investigated for the first time in a single geological archive and placed in precise chronological order.Read the full story here.