The heat at the core of the Earth is important for a number of things, primarily it helps sustain the planet’s magnetic field as well as helps keep surface temperatures relatively in check. The glowing and flowing fiery iron in the Earth’s core is critical life on the planet but that might not be the case forever. And scientists are now suggesting that the temperatures in the core (now roughly 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit) are cooling at a much faster rate than originally anticipated. Basically, they’ve been on the downtrend since the beginning, but the cooling pace is picking up and that’s going to be an issue.
It isn’t possible to measure the exact temperature of the Earth’s
core or to track the increases or decreases in a 1:1 type fashion, so
scientists have had to come up with different methods to track what
exactly is happening there. According to reporting by Science Alert,
a group from Switzerland is working to try and measure the temperatures
to determine just what, if anything we have to worry about. In a
somewhat complicated process, this group superheated crystals to try and
replicate the temperature in the mantle in order to see how the heat
transfer happened. By doing this they were able to compare it to the
differences in temperature we are seeing at the surface. Through their
calculations, they came to the conclusion the Earth’s core temperature
is dropping at a rate that might not bode well for the planet.
And if you want to see what a planet looks like when there isn’t activity in the core, look no further than Mars
which doesn’t have anywhere close to the same activity of the Earth’s
core and is a barren landscape. Life can’t thrive in those conditions
and that’s the path Earth is likely heading towards with these recent
studies. Is it a certainty, no. But there is reason to expect it will
happen at some point with the temperatures dropping below the danger
point.
So true!!!!
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