earths poles

[kobi]

What would happen if the position of the earths poles were to change completely.

[dundurn]

If you mean magnetic poles:

They are formed by electrical currents in the liquid part of the Earth's core and they move constantly although the movement is relatively slow and regular. We compensate for this by dating our maps and noting the rate of change in the margins. Every 60,000 years or so, however, they change places as the magnetic flux changes direction. We can't be sure how long the changeover process takes but unless it's immediate we would have a period during which magnetic compasses might be useless. There are also a number of animals who rely on the Earth's magnetic field for navigation. They might be in real trouble until things settled down. With GPS and gyrocompasses in existence most commercial transport would be unaffected, but magnetic compasses are still a useful back-up for lots of people.

If you mean geographic poles:

They have a natural "wobble" called precession which contributes to a number of effects but doesn't cause us any real problems. The continental plates are in motion over the Earth's core and the position of the poles in relation to any land mass changes over time. Obviously if a country moves further North or South its climate is going to be affected, but at around 1cm a year we won't see any effect in our lifetimes. Anything that could produce an effect similar to the magnetic "swapping" of North and South poles over a "short" time scale, i.e. turn the Earth upside down would have to be a collision of some kind that would wipe out most, if not all, life on the planet - so once again, nothing for us to worry about - we wouldn't be here!

[jake-the-peg]

dundurn's right the reversal seems immediate from a geological perspective but I believe takes 50-100 years.

The big scare is that we'll have much less protection from solar flares during that time and it'd have a particularly bad effect on satellites and power grids.

We're actually overdue for one and the Earth's magnetic field is declining slightly so it may be coming. But if you look around at all the life forms that have survived the last ones you can see it's not going to be too catastrophic for life but it could be rather damaging technologically

[dundurn]

Oops, Jake, forgot about the flares - looks like the news might not be so good for GPS either then - Things to watch out for - Boeing retrofitting airliners with astrodomes so pilots can take "star fixes".

[heathfield]

The Earth flipping over such that the present South Pole points toward the North Star isn't a new idea. And such a reversal may have happened more than once. This is extensively covered in Immanuel Velikovsky's book, 'Earth in Upheaval'. He points to evidence from all over the world that this has happened, and happened suddenly. The result was that the oceans swept across the land surfaces. Erratic boulders from the German Hartz Mountains are found in Russia, a huge (1/2 mile wide) chalk block from Yorkshire rests in Sweden, caves in Derbyshire, and in Spain, are filled with gravel containing the mixed bones of arctic fox, hippopotamus, musk ox, ostrich, etc.

[dundurn]

I know the idea isn't new, but then neither is it a very good idea.

[Phantaxus]

actually a reveral can happen quite quickly I watched a documentary about this and there is a lava flow in western Canada or thereabouts where opposite ends of the flow are polarised differently.

[kwicky]

Better hope it will not happen very soon

http://www.nasca.org.uk/Strange_relics_/revers al/reversal.html

[honest_joe]

We all know the power of a Tsunami. If a giant tsunami was to force the ocean to swirl around the globe a massive imbalance would take place where the weight of the water is moved to. A gallon of water weighs approx 10lbs, imagine an ocean on the move.

[jake-the-peg]

Why do you think a change in the Earth's magnetic field would trigger such a Tsunami Joe?