Quote:
Originally Posted by xelasnave
Well for a start we would have to adjust to living in the Northern hemisphere.
And ...well I dont think I could.
Alex
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Haaaha!
Good one.
Actually magnetic 'flips' are pretty quick because essentially you cannot have two Norths or Souths in a magnet unless you have something made from monopole atoms...which we haven't seen any physical evidence for yet. So a 'flip' in a normal magnet is just that. South one second, North immediately afterwards. But, the earth is more complex than a normal magnet.
Where the problem arises with magnetic location is when the poles 'shift' over time. There's a tipping point when they will flip (which I read recently is unknown) but that can result in multiple Norths and Souths at the same time, over areas of different density, then flip and then shift and then flip again multiple times over a long time (1000 - 5000 years) before it settles down. Basically complete magnetic chaos over a period, then settling down again.
Geologically speaking, that's pretty much instantly, but for us short lived humans it will wreak havoc with navigation and anything that relies on direction achieved through magnetic means.
There's some evidence that the strength of the magnetic field moves around the earth under normal circumstances and while that happens, so there may be some aurora's happening in places that did not have them before, but the protection given to us by the magnetic field won't fall to anything significant enough (maybe up to 5% of normal in some areas) to boil oceans or fry birds. It may have implications for space weather and satellites.