BBC Focus Magazine

[Thinker]

I "Stumbledon" this website and was looking at the page on 2012 and all that doomsday rubbish.

It mentioned the pole shift, which is something that has sparked my interest in the past, but I was wondering how it would affect the earth. OK, so the poles shift, so does that mean while I'm out orienteering, I'm suddenly buggered as the compass is going to swing wildly the other way?

[M Paul Lloyd]

Depends on what they mean by 'polar' shift Thinker?

If on the one hand they mean the tilt of the Earth's axis this is a slow prosses called Precession that is going on all the time but takes many thousands of years to go through a cycle but combined with the Earths variable orbit might have some long term impact on climate.

Alternativley they may mean the shift in the magnetic poles which again is steadily moving toward Russia at a little less than 40 miles a year as a result of changes in the Eath's magnetic core. Which will alter where your compass points over time.

If you want a better indication of North the pole star is a much better bet.

I suspect they mean how the Earth's magnetic field has a tendancy to 'flip' so the north becomes south and vice versa, no-one is sure why or how this happens or what the consequences for life might be.

However going by the geological records of these events over the Earth's history it seems we are due another one sometime 'soon' possibly within the next 100,000 to 500,000 years time, so I'm not going to worry about it too much.

Hope that helps?
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[MartinGulasis]

I read some interesting information about the magnetic pole shift here Planet Shifting

[M Paul Lloyd]

A nice link MartinGulasis thanks for that.

[Shadowwolf]

Oh I'm not so sure Mr M, I don't think there are that many scientists - and none identified - who are linking climate change to a magnetic pole shift and not what we as a species has been up to over the last century.

Then the latter paragraphs descend into: Mayan 2012 prophecy; galactic core emanating torsion wave energy whatever that is; altering DNA; humanities metamorphosis and astrology all apparently identified by those unmentioned scientists again.

It's a pseudoscience / conspiracy site, I mean it's got chemtrails of all things up there, high woo indeed.

[M Paul Lloyd]

It is a nice link though............... even if what's at the other end is generally a bit odd.
I offer this as a possible antidote?
http://www.universetoday.com/18977/2012 ... -reversal/

But I also found this on the blog from David Watkins
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gbD0YEqsgA


I agree much of it is not science in any shape or form but it all seems to come under the heading of 'The pole Shift Hypothesis' which although it might seem relatively benign it does seem to be stirring some fringe interest and I do like to allow the fringe input to have its moment of fame before being subjected to the usual extreme autopsy we tend to deal out.

However before we crush it utterly I do recall a few years back a Geo-engineer (by the name of Flaviio Barbierio I think) who, if I remember correctly, used to work for the oil industry so obviously he is less than neutral on the subject of climate change, but he had this theory (amongst others) that as the polar magnetic, north-south, orientation flips (relatively quickly) every so many thousand years it might well have a profound impact on the Earths climate. Obviously given his background and lack of scientific credentials his ideas were very quickly dismissed by the scientific community.

But if you strip away all the silly portent of doom and 'end of worlds' Mayan 2012 nonsense it is worth noting that the Earths polar magnetic alignment does occasionally flip and is important to the overall efficacy of the Earths magnetic field which helps protect us from the less pleasant radiation that the Sun hurls our way that could have a profound effect on the climate. So if it were to 'flip' anytime soon, albeit over a relatively quick 1,000 or so period, then it could have a significant impact on the climate?
I'm not a fan of Wiki but this seems to cover the basics.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geomagnetic_reversal

[Shadowwolf]

Well as far as I know the magnetic field is relatively undiminished so can't really be held responsible for the changes we are seeing past and now which correlate with other factors. Sounds like it is just another ill thought through alternate to excuse us and thus negate the need for any measures to be taken or enforced.

As for the vid, given the shocked smiley I assume you watched to the point where everything goes very Lateral as the pole shift happens over approximately ten minutes with gravity just switching off resulting in the dinosaurs just floating off into the sky to subsequently die by the sudden stop after falling when gravity switched back on; unlikely I think. As for the Lateralness of it all, I rather suspect that is Lateral.

[M Paul Lloyd]

I agree Mr.S I know of no evidence to suggest that the Earth's magnetic field is diminishing but rather the poles are shifting, although quite how this relates to gravity in either event I'm not entirely sure!?

So yes the 'shocked smiley' was significant and I must admit I also found it all very Lateral if not downright bonkers (complete with toy plastic dinosaurs!!) from then on and to be honest it really only serves to distract attention from what could be a legitimate area of study.

Very 'Lateral'.

[Shadowwolf]

I must say I did find one of the comments amusing as someone was somewhat irked about the representation of the globe turning upside down implying that the entire planet shifted and not just the magnetic pole, yet the whole bit about gravity just switching off slid right on by

[M Paul Lloyd]

Yes, a classic example of not being aware of the proverbial 'elephant in the room'.