Polar shift?!?!?!?

Question

im soo confused people say it takes thousands of years to doo!! but why are people so worried about it!! im starting to get worried about it!!! HELP?!

Answer 1

The Earth's magnetic field is "due" to flip.  It does this every tens of thousands of years.  So the last flip was not within any kind of recorded history.

One worry is that during the flip, we won't be as well protected from cosmic rays and various kinds of solar radiation nasties.  The magnetic field could go to "zero" or some small value that won't do us much good.  Fortunately, the fossil record does not show mass extinctions or die-offs during these events.  Perhaps it's nothing to worry about.

If any animal can cope with it, we can.  Humans are really, really smart.  If just one of the 6,000,000,000 people figures out how to cope, we all do.  So if i'm not feeling very smart this morning, well, maybe someone else will.

Answer 2

we don;'t know if the actual shift is rapid or slow, the build-up seems to be slow.  But when it happens, it will really mess up navigation, satellites, etc... plus it might leave us without  shield from cosmic radiation temporarily

Answer 3

It is a magnetic reversal where the magnetism of the North Pole "wanders" to the south. While this takes some time to occur, we are due for one in the next couple of thousand years or so. It has happened many times before and we really don't know why it occurs. I wouldn't worry about it, the planet itself does not flip its just a reversal of the earths magnetic field.

Answer 4

It does take a thousand years or so for the poles to completely flip. People are worried because some scientist think that it will start soon. But they aren't sure when it will start.

Answer 5

did you watch that doofy show on tv too?.... here's the deal... there's two kinds of  'shift'... polar and pole.... the one where the whole crust of the Earth moves around, making earthquakes and tsunamis and all that horrible stuff, ain't gonna happen.... the magnetic pole shift can, will and does happen, but it's not accompanied by all that excitement !!...

don't beleive everything you see on tv... it's 'entertainment'... for money for them... remember?.....

Answer 6

Because they think it will happen in 2012, the same year the Mayan calendar says the world will end, or at least change dramatically.  I don't think you should worry about it.