Earth’s magnetic poles ‘could be about to flip’ - here’s what it means

Earth’s magnetic poles could be about to flip for the first time in 786,000 years – and the ‘switch’ could have drastic effects on our electronic world.

If the poles flip, compasses will point south – and it could have significant effects on Earth’s power grid (although it’s not likely to happen immediately, despite doomsday-mongers’ obsession with the idea).

A new report by Futurism suggests that the ‘flip’ could allow radiation to reach Earth’s surface, and play havoc with hi-tech satellites.

Scientists are now using satellites to analyse the shifts in Earth’s magnetic field – and seen that the north magnetic pole is ‘turbulent and unpredictable’, Futurism reports.

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But before you head for the doomsday bunkers, it’s probably not going to happen right away – with scientists predicting a ‘flip’ sometime in the next 2,000 years.

It also won’t happen immediately, instead happening over the course of several hundred years – giving us ample time to prepare.

NASA has poured cold water on the idea that magnetic field reversals could lead to an apocalypse, saying in 2012 that, ‘The science shows that magnetic pole reversal is – in terms of geologic time scales – a common occurrence that happens gradually over millennia.

‘While the conditions that cause polarity reversals are not entirely predictable – the north pole’s movement could subtly change direction, for instance – there is nothing in the millions of years of geologic record to suggest that any of the doomsday scenarios connected to a pole reversal should be taken seriously.’