We humans live with the comforting delusion that the processes by which life is sustained on the planet Earth are somehow an immutable given. How little do we appreciate the fragility of these processes, which are sustained only by the will of God.

        Consider an article in the London Observer of November 10, 2002, which reports the very serious scientific conclusion that "Earth’s magnetic field — the force that protects us from deadly radiation bursts from outer space — is weakening dramatically. Scientists have discovered that its strength has dropped precipitously over the past two centuries and could disappear over the next 1,000 years."

        This is not the warning of some crackpot, but the considered judgment of reputable scientists. The Observer cites, for example, Dr. Alan Thomson of the British Geological Survey in Edinburgh, who states that "Earth's magnetic field has disappeared many times before — as a prelude to our magnetic poles flipping over, when north becomes south and vice versa…."

        What would happen if the field disappeared? As the Observer notes: "The effects could be catastrophic. Powerful radiation bursts, which normally never touch the atmosphere, would heat up its upper layers, triggering climatic disruption. Navigation and communication satellites, Earth's eyes and ears, would be destroyed and migrating animals left unable to navigate…. As to humans, our greatest risk would come from intense solar radiation bursts. Normally these are contained by the planet’s magnetic field in space. However, if it disappears, particle storms will start to batter the atmosphere. ‘These solar particles can have profound effects,’ said Dr Paul Murdin, of the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge. ‘On Mars, when its magnetic field failed permanently… it led to its atmosphere being boiled off. On Earth, it will heat up the upper atmosphere and send ripples round the world with enormous, unpredictable effects on the climate.’"

        And we have no grounds for comfort in the thought that at least we have 1,000 years to play with. The flip in the magnetic pole could happen 999 years from now, or it could happen tomorrow. According to the Observer, "Gauthier Hulot of the Paris Geophysical Institute has discovered Earth’s magnetic field seems to be disappearing most alarmingly near the poles, a clear sign that a flip may soon take place. Using satellite measurements of field variations over the past 20 years, Hulot plotted the currents of molten iron that generate Earth’s magnetism deep underground and spotted huge whorls near the poles. Hulot believes these vortices rotate in a direction that reinforces a reverse magnetic field, and as they grow and proliferate these eddies will weaken the dominant field: the first steps toward a new polarity, he says."

        Still not convinced we have a potentially apocalyptic scenario? Well, how about the stodgy old Scientific American? The Observer notes that as "Scientific American reports this week, this [Hulot’s] interpretation has now been backed up by computer simulation studies."

        Strangely enough, Hollywood has made a movie based on this very phenomenon, entitled The Core. The movie "depicts a world beset by just such a polar reversal, with radiation sweeping the planet." One is reminded of the warning of Our Lady in the approved apparition at Akita, Japan that "fire will rain down from the heavens." One thinks also of the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima. Was the sun’s terrifying descent upon the vast crowd at Fatima a warning that one day all of humanity would be exposed to the sun’s full fury in a world suddenly stripped of the protection of its magnetic field?

        It is impossible to say. And the loss of Earth’s magnetic field may not be the chastisement of which Our Lady spoke when She warned that "various nations will be annihilated." But anyone who thinks this sorry world is not long overdue for a global chastisement is living in a fool’s paradise — the same one inhabited by the Fatima revisionists, who tell us that the Message of Fatima need no longer concern us.