As I read a lot of these topics being posted I see that there is a great deal of confusion on the subject of what will happen when the poles finally shift.

There is plate movement (plate tectonics) where the actual layers of crust move, and then there is a movement of the earth's poles such as we had almost a million years ago due to a change in magnetism of the minerals that are contained within the earth's magma flow.

Plate tectonics involves seismology and vulcanism. When the magma flow "bumps" a plate, or when a gap in the plate allows for magma plumes to surface you see a seismic or volcanic occurrence. When the polarity of the magma shifts you see an effect in weather. Hurricanes. Tornadoes. Extreme heat and extreme cold. Communication breakdown in the event of severe electrical charging.

Many people believe that the poles will shift in 2012 and are stating that this will cause the earth's crust to move. The way it is being described is a quick shift in the continental structure or energetic plate tectonics. There hasn't been a period (yet) in the earth's history where the plates shifted dramatically and quickly, so I am not alarmed that extreme mountain building will occur.

IF 2012 does bring a shift in polarity, then what we can expect is extreme high and lows in temperature. Super storm systems, and perhaps a new ice age. All this is worrisome indeed, but it is not what a lot of people are predicting. I read a post about what continents to move to as though the "wobble" of the earth will radically reverse and the entire planet will flip quickly and we all better live in New Zealand...or something like that.

Again, my geology knowledge is limited to an undergrad degree so feel free to correct me, but I think we should worry more about an impending ice age than seismic disruption.

I agree and think that the plates moving rapidly is highly improbable. My biggest question is what does this mean for electronics? Would they stop working correctly if the flow of electrons is reversed? is that even possible? From my flawed understanding, most electric motors would need to have their negative and positive leads switched over....

but back onto your original topic, I have one final question; would we be more unified if all the land masses came together like a pangea remix?

I also agree, pole shift is a natural phenomena that happens repeatedly over a great period of time. As for another ice age, that will happen too. Right now we are in what is called an "interglacial" period. I also believe that global warming is also a natural cycle although all we are doing is speeding up the process. We are not the only planet in our solar system that is becoming warmer either. And yes, it will get warmer.....then it will get a lot colder. Climate change around the world has a lot of people scared but again...its all part of mother earths natural cycle. We just need to start taking steps on being prepared for what she throws our way regarding temperature. The hard part about it is the different plant and animal life that may not be able to cope with any sudden change in the temperatures they are used to. As for human kind, we are very adaptable and will find a way as we have throughout our history on this planet.

Back to the pole shift......the north and south poles are in a constant state of movement. and even if the poles were to switch very quickly I have a hard time believing that it would cause widespread damage and destruction as a lot of posts here predict.

Originally posted by Rintendo

IF 2012 does bring a shift in polarity, then what we can expect is extreme high and lows in temperature. Super storm systems, and perhaps a new ice age.

There is little or no evidence or reason suggesting a polarity reversal would cause any of those effects. There have been attempts to link past reversals to mass extinctions and glacial periods but no relationships have been established.

As has been said, the geologic record shows that the past reversals have be gradual. There is a possibility that the Earth's magnetosphere would weaken or split up during the change but there is little reason to expect that in itself would be catastrophic. Our protection from solar and cosmic radiation is far more dependent on our atmosphere than our magnetosphere.


[edit on 12/12/2008 by Phage]

I see the reversing of the poles as an analogy for the world going from a materialistic to a more pantheistic mindset.

Hopefully its more of an archaic revival in the sense of a remembrance of our relationship to the stars, nature and each other.

Peace

Just because no scientist has been alive during an actual pole shift, doesn't mean that its going to be total disaster. Like I said before, the magnetic poles are in a constant state of movement, sometimes by a little, sometimes by a lot, but that doesn't also mean its the cause of every natural disaster this world has had since the time of scientists walking the earth.

[edit on 12-12-2008 by QBSneak000]

there was a lot of discussion about this before and the truth is that no one really know. It can be something very mild, to something very life destroying for the earth and it's inhabitants. The changes could cause extreame weather conditions, especially if you have a rapid change vs a gradual change.

I know a lot of migratory animals, birds, whales etc rely on the Earths magnetic poles for their survival. Wouldn't a pole reversal mess up their breeding habits and cause them to end up at the wrong ends of the earth? Depending on the duration of the flip and their ability to adapt, surely this wouldn't be a good thing.

The Earth does not flip around like that which has been mentioned several times in this thread. There is too much inertial for it to do that. I think the biggest effects we would see would be increased sightings of auroras (not the plane).

Phage, according to our knowledge, how much of ionizing solar radiation is blocked/absorbed by our magnetosphere compared to our atmosphere (ionosphere, mesosphere, stratosphere, cloud albedo, etc.)? I don't mean this rhetorically, but are we pretty certain of this ratio?

I would think if our magnetosphere's field strength/intensity were to diminish for just a few seconds during one of these pole reversals, (let alone minutes, days, weeks, etc.) it COULD put considerable strain on our atmosphere that MIGHT have detrimental effects for just about everything on this planet.

Another question... have there been sudden emergences of new species of plants and animals that correlate with pole reversals in Earth's history, at the evolutionary scale?