Will a polar shift occour in December 2012?

Question

Are we doomed?

Answer 1

Too specific.

When I first found out about it, it panicked me - 2012 was too soon for me to die. However, the more I read about it the more it became clear that the specific date of 2012 only really concerned the end of the Mayan calandar.

To be more specific, 2012 is fuelled by the Doomsday Conspirators, but scientists more accurately predict geomagnetic flip to happen at some stage between 3000-4000 AD.

The idea of it occuring on the 21st of December 2012 is rather too specific - evidence mostly suggests that it takes a lot of years to flip; in fact, a few thousand.

So, whilst it has been shown that the fields are becoming weaker and evidence suggests that they will eventually become nothing, before reappearing reversed, its likely to take a lot more years to complete this.

I wouldn't worry about it happening in your lifetime - there's not really any evidence, apart from the Mayan calendar (and, let's face it, their scientific knowledge was not the best) that its going to come for centuries.

Answer 2

Most likely not. The Mayan calendar ending in 2012 doesn't mean that so too shall the world. It just means: go back to page 1; repeat.

Polar shift is one of the many many things that people are thinking will be the reason we're all doomed in 2012, and the Mayan calendar is the source of their worries, not scientific data about the Earth.

They can't predict Earthquakes, and they get to observe those all the time. A polar shift has never occurred in human history. All they can do is look at the geological record and infer conclusions about them, so I'd say that they wouldn't be able to pinpoint one within any timeframe like a year - probably not ever.

Answer 3

The same thing has concerned me no end the last five days, to the brink of total depression. A few facts have helped me come to terms with this concern;

1) Polar Reversals are somewhat irregular. They can vary between thousands of years or billions of years. I am not well up on the subject but researched all I know from the USGS website. They also claim they get a lot of requests from the general public regarding polar reversals, suggesting that our concern is quite common.

2) So far life on earth has not been adversely affected. They take place on average of 200 thousand years. The USGS discredits the mass extinction of the dinosaurs to polar reversals. However, our technologically advanced civilisation may suffer from earthquakes, volcano eruptions etc should a reversal take place.

3) Temporary weakening of the Ozone layer is likely to occur, making cancer much more common than it is today.

I dont know how I stumbled into the 2012 website world. However, it has depressed me no end. Look at the USGS article on polar reversals. These have reassured me a bit.

Answer 4

The polar shift, if and when it happens, may take hundreds of years to occur, rather than happening in one day. There's absolutely no evidence that connects the polar shift (or anything else) to this particular date. People predict the end of the world regularly, but we're always still here the day after "doomsday"! G. K. Chesterton called this game "Cheat The Prophet!"

Answer 5

Do you mean all of the polar bears are going to form a powerful alliance and attack us all on December 2012? Does the Bush administration know about this?

Answer 6

No.
And no.
Some people say the Mayan calendar ends on that date, and the the Mayans wrote it that way because they knew the world would end on that date. Ever since then people have been "assuming" that every doon and gloom story that hits the internet must be scheduled for that date. It is all just a bunch of nonsense and confusion between different end of the world stories.

Answer 7

1

Answer 8

Yeah probably, but hey even if it does it wouldn't necessarily mean the end of the world, just all the commputers would stop working (this may be the end of teh world for some!)