Earth’s Magnetic Fields Switching 42,000 Years May Have Led to Extinction of Neanderthals

If there was a number that connected various ancient events that took place on earth then it would have been 42,confirmed a new research. Just like Douglas Adam’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to Galaxy that mentioned how 42 is the answer to everything, this research has found that events that took place 42,000 years ago were all due to one event.

Published in the Science Journal, the paper described Adam’s Event, in a tribute science fiction writer, to point out how the switching of earth’s magnetic field 42,000 years ago led to several events around the world including the extinction of the Neanderthals. When the magnetic field of the earth switches, its protective magnetic field collapses allowing galactic cosmic radiation into the planet that wreaks havoc on its living beings. The new international study co-led by the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney and the South Australian Museum shows how the temporary breakdown of Earth’s magnetic field 42,000 years ago prompted major climate shifts that led to global environmental change and mass extinctions.

Speaking to UNSW Sydney Chris Turney, a professorat UNSW Science and co-lead author of the studysaid that the findings were made possible with ancient New Zealand kauri trees, which have been preserved in the wetlands for over 40,000 years. He further said that by using the ancient trees their team could measure, and date, the spike in atmospheric radiocarbon levels caused by the collapse of Earth’s magnetic field. Chris says that for the first time ever scientists have been able to precisely date the timing and environmental impacts of the last magnetic pole switch, through this study.

Even though it was common knowledge that the magnetic fields of earth switched 42,000 years ago, it was not known how impactful it was. This study, however, connects the dots and traces some of the major natural events that took place around the same time. The study also gives a new direction in the evolution of ancient humans.

Through this study, the researchers compared the newly-created timescale with records from sites across the Pacific and used it in global climate modelling. They found that the growth of ice sheets and glaciers over North America and large shifts in major wind belts and tropical storm systems could be traced back to the Adams Event. Their first clue towards this was the simultaneous extinctions of the megafauna across mainland Australia and Tasmania 42,000 years ago. The corresponding author of the study, Professor Alan Cooper from BlueSky Genetics, South Australia, said that this had never seemed right because it was long after Aboriginal people arrived in the region but around the same time that the Australian environment shifted to the current arid state.

The paper has brought in new revelations for scientists working on anthropology and climate change.