题目内容
The collapse of the Earths magnetic field-which guards the planet and guides many of its creatures-appears to have started about 150 years ago,the New York Times reported last week. The fields strength has decreased by 10 or 15 percent so far and this has increased the debate over whether it signals a reversal of the planets lines of magnetic force. During a reversal,the main field weakens,almost vanishes,and reappears with opposite polarity(极). The transition would take thousands of years. Once completed,compass needles that had pointed north would point south. A reversal could cause problems for both man and animals. Birds,fish,animals that rely on the magnetic field for navigation would find migration confusing. But experts said the effects would not be a big disaster.despite claims of doom and vague evidence of links between past field reversals and species extinctions. Although a total transition may be hundreds or thousands of years away,the rapid decline in magnetic strength is already affecting satellites. Last month, the European Space Agency approved the worlds largest effort at tracking the fields shifts. A group of now satellites calfed Swarm are to monitor the collapsing field with far greater precision. "We want to get some idea of how this would evolve in the near future,just like people trying to predict the weather,"said Gauthier Hulot ,a French geophysicist working on the satellite plan. "Im personally quite convinced we should be able to work out the first predictions by the end of the mission." No matter what the new findings,the public has no reason to panic, Even if a transition is coming on its way.it might take 2,000 years to mature. The last one took place 780,000 years ago,when early humans were learning how to make stone tools. Deep inside the Earth flow hot currents of melted iron. This mechanical energy creates electromagnetism. This, process is known as the geophysical generator. In a cars generator,the same principle turns mechanical energy into electricity. No one knows preciaely why the field periodically reverses. But scientists say the responsibility probably lies with changes in the with changes in the disorderly flows of melted iron,which they see as similar to the gases that make up the clouds of Jupiter.
According to the passage,the Earths magnetic field has
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