What would happen if the Earths magnetic pole reverses? Do you think it is happening now?
The magnetic field of our planet is in constant change. Aeronautical maps must be updated often to account for the change in magnetic drift of magnetic north from true north. The current change seems to rotate magnetic north around the true north pole over thousands of years, but the geological record shows complete reversals from time to time, as you mention. These reversals are also associated with decreases in field strength. As the magnetic field decreases in strength, more radiation from the sun would be let through the atmosphere. Temperatures would rise, radiation diseases such as cancer would increase, and DNA mutation would increase also. As the poles move, they would continue to rotate with the Earth, and would be pointed toward the sun for part of the day. That would concentrate radiation from the sun on the point of the Earth’s surface that the magnetic pole existed over. Nobody knows how weak the field strength would get, or how much extra radiation would be let through. O
One of the things the earth’s magnetosphere does is shield us from solar radiation. If the field were to weaken, as it would during the period of magnetic pole reallignment, more solar radiation would hit the earth, heating it significantly. According to the PBS documentary that I saw on this, the shifts do not happen overnight. They take anywhere from 600 to 1000 years. It is believed that the main cause of these shifts is due to the chaotic properties of the earth’s molten core. Apparently, the turbulent currents of the earth’s inner core have settled on two (strange) attractors, somewhat like a Lorenz attractor system, and periodically the flow shifts to the other attractor. This is usually characterized by a period of “instability” just before the transition. According to the documentary, we may already be 100 to 150 years into a magnetic pole change cycle. The global map they showed was showing patches of significant magnetic field weakening over large parts of the earth, with the
