when will the poles shift?

Question

i was working and listening to the news and i though they said 2012. that seems way too soon. what is the actual year?

Answer 1

My geology professor says that we are currently in a reversal right now, but we don't know exactly what will happen as it progresses.

The pole reversals take around 10,000 years to complete... Of course this is from mathematical models, there is not a complete history of any reversal, well not yet at least.

The reversal will let in either some or all of the charged radiation that the sun emits (some say that during the reversal the protection is only reduced slightly and others say the magnetic field is gone completely, it depends on who you ask).

http://www.geomag.bgs.ac.uk/reversals.html You can try this site out, it is alright for beginning research...

Answer 2

2012 is when a "new and improved" mapping datum is due I think. The magnetic poles are constantly shifting, it's magnetic polar reversal that seems to happen suddenly every so often. The axis (true North/South poles) won't change, unless maybe another planet bumped into ours.

Too little is known about it to predict it, and anyone putting a date, even within centuries, is likely in the same category as Von Daniken.... a psuedoscientist crackpot. Likely the 2012 date is based on a misunderstanding of ancient calendars from South America.

Answer 3

Nova on PBS had a show which talked about the shifting of the poles. From what I gathered as I understood the show, it won't be all in one big swoop but happen as more of a gradual thing; maybe a swoop on geologic time though.

Answer 4

the poles shift. not overnight, not like a swich was flipped. it takse bunches of years, way more than our lifetimes.

somebody doesnt' understand something.

as i remember, the poles have swiched 3 times, and it takes millions of years for this to happen.

my last geology class was 30 years ago, so don't take the numbers real seriously, but the info is good.

Answer 5

From Wikipedia:

"Based upon the study of lava flows of basalt throughout the world, it has been proposed that the Earth's magnetic field reverses at intervals, ranging from tens of thousands to many millions of years, with an average interval of approximately 250,000 years. The last such event, called the Brunhes-Matuyama reversal, is theorized to have occurred some 780,000 years ago."

So we are either long overdue or we have near zero chance of seeing this happen in our lifetime - take your pick!

Answer 6

When the earth starts spinning about another axis.

Answer 7

don know
but keep an close eye on the toilet

Answer 8

when people wake up and smell the death in the air