GPS face big errors as solar activity rises

[Kev1n]

It's not just sunburn we'll need to look out for according to the BBC news.

BBC News - Sat-nav devices face big errors as solar activity rises

"Sat-nav receivers will be blinded for tens of minutes, probably a few times a year at the solar maximum"

Time to brush up on the chart and compass use.

[Fishery Pokery]

Good find Kevin. Good excuse to practise chart use as well.
Either that or put the anchor down for a bit.
Hopefully this will be like the millenium bug, maybe put about by people pushing the new European radio system.
Geoff

[PaulGH]

BBC are good at scaremongering,
Solar activity has been at it's lowest level in over 200 years give or take for the last 8 to 10 years, in the late 90s it was at a near all time high, some scientists attribute a large part of the warming the earth seen to this solar activity.

Given the exceptionally low solar cycle it's inevitable that it will increase, truth is though no one really knows how high a frequency of sunspots and solar flares are going to happen as a result all they do know is there will be more next year than last (not hard given there were next to none).

[oldessox]

I was watching a programme on tv the other night about the earths mgnetic field and radiation from the suns solar flares , the earths magnetic field acts as a shield and deflects the radiation away from the planet , apparantly though , the polarity of the earth is shifting , the north pole and south pole are swopping ends , it's already started and there are large areas off south america where the poles are reversed which is causing havoc with sat navs etc. They were saying at some point the "shield " will be down and radiation will cause all kinds of problems on earth, not in our lifetimes , but I think they said something like 6% in every 100 years and that would take about 1500 years. It's not the first time the poles have reversed , but will be the first time man has experienced it. Isn't this a fun planet to live on?

Ray

[Norman]

It`s life Ray, but not as we know it ........

[PaulGH]

... it's already started and there are large areas off south america where the poles are reversed which is causing havoc with sat navs etc. ..

The way the Earths magnetic field works it can't switch in isolated areas, it's all or nothing, it's a globe encompassing force.
I'm not an expert but what I do understand so long as the Earth has a molten core of iron the shield won't drop it can switch of course if the core twists a bit too much and that's nightmare scenario in itself, if it were to switch off life would be burnt from the face of the planet in an instant, given the poles have switched in the Earth's past and life still exists it seems to suggest it's not so catastrophic.