Earth s suit of geomagnetic armor has a chink, and it s growing.
A weak spot in our planet s magnetic field, located above the southern Atlantic Ocean, has been increasing in size over the last two centuries, and it s starting to split in two.
For those of us on the ground, this isn t cause for concern: The protective field continues to shield the planet from deadly solar radiation. But the South Atlantic Anomaly, as it s appropriately named, does affect satellites and other spacecraft that pass through an area between South America and southern Africa. That s because higher quantities of charged solar particles seep through the field there, which can cause malfunctions in computers and circuitry.