I remember having to write a paper about the magnetosphere in one of my geology classes so I had to study it in depth so it has been something that has interested me. It is a case where we actually do happen to be living in a potential crisis. We do appear to be unfortunately living in a time of weakening field. They did some very careful studies at the mid ocean ridge of the remnant magnetic fields. As magma solidifies there, the magnetite aligns itself in the direction of the earth's field so there is a record of the previous magnetic orientation. They showed that as we go through a reversal, the field begins to weaken and spiral away from the true north pole as it is currently doing. Life survived through those reversals in the past but it is likely to cause some major problems when the field essentially goes to nothing and our protection does as well.

" ... Earth's magnetic field acts like a giant invisible bubble that shields the planet from the dangerous cosmic radiation spewing from the sun in the form of solar winds. The field exists because Earth has a giant ball of iron at its core surrounded by an outer layer of molten metal. Changes in the core's temperature and Earth's rotation boil and swirl the liquid metal around in the outer core, creating magnetic field lines.... "

" ... The movement of the molten metal is why some areas of the magnetic field strengthen while others weaken, Florberghagen said. When the boiling in one area of the outer core slows down, fewer currents of charged particles are released, and the magnetic field over the surface weakens.

"The flow of the liquid outer core almost pulls the magnetic field around with it," Floberghagen said. "So, a field weakening over the American continent would mean that the flow in the outer core below America is slowing down." ... "

The galactic cosmic ray (GCR) warming hypothesis is based on the premise that GCRs can "seed" clouds, and clouds reflect sunilight. So if there are fewer GCRs reaching Earth (because a strong solar magnetic field is deflecting them away), the hypothesis says there will be fewer clouds, more sunlight reaching the Earth's surface, and thus more global warming.

So more solar activity means a stronger solar magnetic field, which means fewer GCRs reaching Earth, which hypothetically means fewer clouds and more warming.

The body of scientific research has determined that GCRs are actually not very effective at seeding clouds. However, the hypothesis is also disproven just by examining the data. Over the past five decades, the number of GCRs reaching Earth has increased, and in recent years reached record high numbers. This means that if the GCR-warming hypothesis is correct, this increase in GCRs should actually be causing global cooling over the past five decades, and particularly cold temperatures in recent years.

On the contrary, while GCRs are up, global temperatures are also way up, and temperatures in recent years reached record highs.

http://www.skepticalscience.com/cosmic-r...

Gotta hand it to skeptical science for coming to a conclusion about cosmic rays and disproving a GCR-warming hypothesis. Does that mean they will concede the idea of CO2 warming also?

Skepticalscience was talking about the effect of solar activity on the Sun's magnetic field. But Earth's weakening field would mean more cosmic rays, which, according to the GCR hypothesis, would lead to more clouds and to cooling, the opposite of what is actually happening.

I think that you're grasping at straws, without understanding what those straws mean.

Interesting.

I did a google search and it brought up a WUWT article that doesn't seem to be related.

At any rate, heat from the interior of the earth takes hundreds, maybe thousands of years to reach the surface. If the change in the magnetic field did indicate warming, which I doubt, there's no way that the heat that caused the disturbance in the magnetic field would be able to reach the surface in our lifetime.

Odd. You cite a link that claims more cosmic rays drive warming whereas Svensmark of other solar researchers have well established that more cosmic rays would drive cooling.

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/09/04/sv...

According to Svensmark, a decreasing magnetic field will decrease warming as more cosmic rays enter and seed cloud formation. Svensmark's theories have gained traction as being directionally correct but most climate researchers believe he over-states the effect of cosmic rays. Your suggestion that cosmic rays increase warming flies in the face of Spencer, Svensmark and most climate change deniers.

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Nobody denies that there are multiple influences on climate. It is an interesting time because our understanding of climate has leaped so far ahead since AR3 in 2001. But the earth's core is not warming up; I have no idea where you got that idea. In fact, if the core was warming, the mantle would be moving more and the magnetic field would be increasing. Your dots are not connecting in any way.

Baccheus, I do not see the link claiming more GCR's causing warming.

CERN has done experiments confirming Svenmarks theory, but the magnitude of the effect is still uncertain, some scientists think our magnetic activity is tied to the suns magnetic activity which is also in decline at this time.

http://news.yahoo.com/earths-magnetic-field-weakening-10-times-faster-now-121247349.html

" ... Previously, researchers estimated the field was weakening about 5 percent per century, but the new data revealed the field is actually weakening at 5 percent per decade, or 10 times faster than thought. As such, rather than the full flip occurring in about 2,000 years, as was predicted, the new data suggest it could happen sooner. ... "

" ... Earth's magnetic field acts like a giant invisible bubble that shields the planet from the dangerous cosmic radiation spewing from the sun in the form of solar winds. The field exists because Earth has a giant ball of iron at its core surrounded by an outer layer of molten metal. Changes in the core's temperature and Earth's rotation boil and swirl the liquid metal around in the outer core, creating magnetic field lines.... "

" ... The movement of the molten metal is why some areas of the magnetic field strengthen while others weaken, Florberghagen said. When the boiling in one area of the outer core slows down, fewer currents of charged particles are released, and the magnetic field over the surface weakens.

"The flow of the liquid outer core almost pulls the magnetic field around with it," Floberghagen said. "So, a field weakening over the American continent would mean that the flow in the outer core below America is slowing down." ... "

Cosmic rays? http://www.biocab.org/Cosmic_Rays_Graph.html#anchor_45