‘Bermuda Triangle of the sky’ where satellites die as Earth’s magnetic shield weakens

The South Atlantic Anomaly is a weak spot in Earth’s magnetic field that interferes with satellite technology and causes major malfunctions. Scientists have discovered the phenomenon is expanding – since 2014, the area has grown by nearly half the size of continental Europe

You might assume the Bermuda Triangle is the only place our technology experiences mysterious malfunctions – but then you would be mistaken.

Chilling research has exposed the ever-growing void in our planet’s protective shield – and it’s ripping satellites to shreds.

The South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) was initially discovered in the late 1800s. Today, it remains a source of chaos – most notably destroying Japan’s Hitomi (ASTRO-H) X-ray observatory in March 2016, after it was sent into an uncontrollable spin – resulting in losses of approximately $273 million, according to The Scientific American.

A decade later, the SAA continues to sabotage attempts at space colonisation. In basic terms, the SAA represents a vulnerable point in our planet’s magnetic shield.

This disrupts satellite systems and triggers severe breakdowns. Our planet’s magnetic field is also essential for us – and every living thing on Earth – as it shields us from cosmic radiation and electrically charged particles from the Sun, reports the Mirror.

Utilising more than 10 years of magnetic field data from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Swarm satellite network, researchers have alarmingly found that this phenomenon is growing.

Since 2014, the region has expanded by an area almost half the size of continental Europe.

Our planet’s magnetic field consists of molten iron that operates as the Earth’s outer core approximately 3000 km below the surface. This molten iron generates electrical currents, which in turn create an electromagnetic field.

The ESA’s Swarm consists of identical satellites that measure Earth’s magnetic signals.

The Swarm mission has revealed that, in addition to the expansion of the SAA, a region of the Atlantic Ocean southwest of Africa has seen an even more rapid weakening of Earth’s magnetic field since 2020.

Lead author Chris Finlay explained: “The South Atlantic Anomaly is not just a single block. It’s changing differently towards Africa than it is near South America.

“There’s something special happening in this region that is causing the field to weaken in a more intense way.

“Normally we’d expect to see magnetic field lines coming out of the core in the southern hemisphere. But beneath the South Atlantic Anomaly we see unexpected areas where the magnetic field, instead of coming out of the core, goes back into the core.

“Thanks to the Swarm data we can see one of these areas moving westward over Africa, which contributes to the weakening of the South Atlantic Anomaly in this region.”