Scientist detect a crack in Earth's magnetosphere

Scientists have detected a recent geomagnetic storm cracked Earth's magnetic shield

Earth is a habitable planet, much thanks to the vast magnetic field that surrounds the planet, shielding us from harsh solar winds and cosmic radiation. Without it we would be cooked up by cosmic radiation.

But as scientists have been investigating one of the most powerful geomagnetic storms in recent history it turned out our magnetosphere has been cracked.

Researchers have been analysing data from the GRAPES-3 telescope in India, which recorded a massive burst of cosmic rays on 22 June 2015. 

For about two hours, Earth’s magnetosphere was being bombarded by these particles which struck the magnetosphere at speeds of about 2.5 million kilometers per hour.

This storm was responsible for radio signal blackouts in many countries in North and South America.

A team from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in India studied the GRAPES-3's data from that day, and the results indicate that the magnetosphere had been temporarily cracked.

The team says the bombardment caused a compression of the magnetosphere, forcing it to shrink from 11 to 4 times Earth's radius.

The researchers say, the fact that this happened at all is a concern, because it suggests that our magnetic field might be changing.

Mars is not just red

Pictures taken by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show Nili Fossae in the Mars’ northwest region and its bright colours.



Images were captured by the Mars Orbiter's HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera



"Nili Fossae Trough is a huge crack in the surface of Mars", a NASA spokesperson explained. 

The colors are produced by the presence of minerals – such as carbonate, aluminum smectite, and iron oxides – in the crust, something that might have supported life in the past.

CO2 levels hit 400 ppm

A new milestone has been reached. Not has CO2 only reached 400 ppm, but the main CO2 observatory at Mauna Loa in Hawaii predicts carbon dioxide concentrations will stay above 400 ppm for the whole of 2016. 

Carbon dioxide levels will continue rising unless the world stops burning fossil fuels and chopping down forests. "The technology is there. It's just human will.", said WMO's (UN World Meteorological Organization) atmospheric environment research chief Oksana Tarasova.

A UN panel of climate scientists estimates that concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide are at their highest in at least 800,000 years. Pre-industrial levels of carbon dioxide were of 278 ppm.

Carbon dioxide is one of the main factors in climate change. Man-made warming causes for example heatwaves, downpours, droughts and rising ocean levels.