Lets say there was a pole shift

Does anyone have any info on how this could effect electronic devices?
If this was to actually happen in 2012 I am curious if our computers would still operate, if the power grids would work, etc.
I have been into radio electronics for a long time and have a good long background working with and building electronic devices.
From my knowledge there are a lot of electronics that rely on the earths magnetic field being the way it is today and a reverse would probably goof up a lot of electronic stuff right?

I am just going on a guess here but wouldn't a lot of navigation equipment be messed up? I wonder if it could have an effect on EMF radiation like radio communications?
Since a lot of modern societies are built around electronics I think this is a valid question to ask.

[edit on 1/28/2009 by darklife]

A problem with a poleshift is not even really the switching of polarity. It is the time while it is switching. Because the magnetic protection we have will weaken so we will have less protection from the cosmic radiation.



Afterwards there will be some adjusting to magnetic north being south and magnetic south being north ofcourse but we will adapt. Maybe the birds will get confused. Not sure.

reply to post by darklife


yeah, thats what im saying. I have asked that same question about 15 times here and i always get some random answer that totally avoids the question.

In theory, you would need to switch your positive and negative leads on electric motors, because it is hypothesized that they would simply be running backwards.

In theory, the pole shift is slow, like it would take years, not something happening overnight.

HOWEVER, if it did happen over night and world wide communications ceased, hell, if you couldn't phone a friend in the next town? no texts? probable car problems, like it just wont start? No bank statements, credit card account info just lost, because all the electronic storage device just got fried. and so on, and so on.

well if all that happened you better hope you have a pretty substantial garden, because it would most certainly not be business as usual.

reply to post by drsmooth23


Good questions in your last post. Star.

I really don't know how long it would take for the poles to completely switch. I have heard the theory that all electronics will cease functioning until they are reconfigured, as well, although some posts in this thread disagree with that idea. I'm really unsure. I assume that once there IS a realignment of poles, even if it is opposite of the current alignment, that electronics will work again. But I don't know how long that would take.

www.answerbag.com... This link has some possible answers.

I had always heard that if the poles switch that there would be increased radiation, tidal waves, and earthquakes caused by the changes in magnetism. I never thought about how the switch would directly affect electronics and communications. That link suggests that the radiation would interfere enough to make electronics and devices worthless.

Again, no clue, really. Just throwing some stuff out there.

Originally posted by drsmooth23
In theory, you would need to switch your positive and negative leads on electric motors, because it is hypothesized that they would simply be running backwards.

I don't think so personally, the current flowing is really not dependent on it's orientation in the Earths magnetic field, I do accept that electricity and magnetism are intrinsically and strangely linked - so maybe no one could definitively answer this issue... But my thinking is if you drive south in the morning to go to work you do not have to pop the hood and switch the polarity of your electrics to turn around and drive north to go home.

And further more material that is magnified within the Earths magnetic field records that almost forever - this is how we came to know of pole shifts, volcanic rock records the polarity - so the massive magnets used in the power stations will retain their N/S polarity from our current point of view - so again I hypothesise providing out infrastructure and electric gizmos actually survive the switch... They should work just as they do now... Providing they survive!! Who knows how much radiation and solar flares we could get hit with in that period - that's the danger and it almost don't bear thinking about - life could take years to die from tumours and birth defects

i was reading or watching something recently,,,, and

it said ,,,apparently there's more than one,,,,,,and,that 3 poles have already begun to shift

so,,,, correct me if i'm wrong

maybe it will be like another y2k scare

but,,,it wouldn't happen overnite,.,,wouldn't it be a process over time

We only have 2 poles, but a switch would take time yeah. First the poles would reduce in strength, then it would reorganize and find it's new equilibrium. Not sure how long it would take. Article below is talking about 1500 years or longer though.

www.sciencedaily.com...

The scientists believe the shallow core field may play a role in determining whether the main field polarity flips while weakened or whether it recovers its strength without reversing. "Mapping this field during transitional states may hold the key to understanding what happens in Earth's core when the field weakens to a point where it can actually reverse," Hoffman says.

Current evidence suggests we are now approaching one of these transitional states because the main magnetic field is relatively weak and rapidly decreasing, he says. While the last polarity reversal occurred several hundred thousand years ago, the next might come within only a few thousand years.

"Right now, historic records show that the strength of the magnetic field is declining very rapidly. From a quick back-of-the-envelope prediction, in 1,500 years the field will be as weak as it's ever been and we could go into a state of polarity reversal," says Singer. "One broad goal of our research is to provide some predictive capability for what could happen and what could be the signs of the next reversal."

Hoffman and Singer's research has been supported largely by grants from the National Science Foundation.

Those who argue that the Earth's core is mostly iron say that the Earth rotation could stop during this pole switch.

If you that happen's only GOD knows what will happen. My guess is that everything would go insane, tides, animal migrations, temperature, etc.

But even if the Earth's rotation doesn't stop just by being exposed to solar radiation in a intensified level during the pole shift would be enough to fry all satellites, render all of our communication and possibly anything electrical useless. If that isn't chaos I don't know what would be.

I'd like to know about this as well.

I know there are other things to worry about like earth quakes, tsunamis, and so on but I've never heard a true explanation of what happens with electronics other then they will be fried.

I watched a really crappy movie on sci fi called "Polar Storm" and they focused on electronics and it was scary sh!t!
Anyone who was near or wearing an electronic device like driving a car, ear phones from an Ipod, really anyone in the path of anything electronic pretty much got fried and electrocuted and the smart "scientist" knew to turn all that stuff off and get away from it to protect themselves.
It was probably way over done, but I honestly don't know.
I would like to know though as I think this is something that is more likely to happen then a lot of other things people claim will happen.
May it be connected to 2012 or not, that doesn't matter as it is a real life event that has taken place before and can very much happen again so I don't think it would be irrational at all to know the facts to be prepared for if and when something like this happens.

There is not much evidence that magnetic pole reversals happen on any cycle or that they happen suddenly. But they do happen. There is no evidence that Earth's axis of rotation has ever reverse nor is it easy to imagine anything that could cause such a thing to happen without more or less destroying the planet entirely.

What would a magnetic pole reversal mean to us? Except for our dependence on electricity, not much. If a reversal happened very suddenly (again, no evidence of that happening in the past) it would probably result in severe geomagnetic storms. Such an event would not "reverse" our power grids, it would simply fry them. Circuit breakers would break and generators might burn out. Personal electronics probably would not have too much of a problem, except that without power you couldn't recharge them.

A magnetic reversal would not significantly increase radiation levels on the surface of the Earth. The magnetosphere provides a certain amount of protection from cosmic and solar radiation but it is our atmosphere which really is our shield. If the magnetosphere became severely weakened or fragmented there may be a slight increase in these forms of radiation that may affect some people in the long term with problems like cancer but it would be very limited (not much consolation to those affected though). This is shown by the fossil record. There are no major extinction events linked to past magnetic reversals. It is also demonstrated by the people that live at high latitudes where there is very little protection provided by the magnetosphere. The internet might go down, we might have to make do with candles, but there would not be massive death and destruction from such an event.

Oh, and another thing. There is no reason to think a magnetic pole reversal is going to happen anytime soon.

[edit on 5/8/2009 by Phage]