[Servant of the 9]

A reversal could knock out power grids, hurt astronauts and satellites, widen atmospheric ozone holes......

That makes a lot more sense than the ozone layer being destroyed by spray Right Guard.

So9

[dts32041]

women and minorities hit hardest.

[ClearCase_guy]

Women and minorities are really gonna be hit hard by this!

[Conspiracy Guy]

This is Bush's fault.

[Izzy Dunne]

compass needles that normally point north would point south,

Horse puckey.

Compass needles do not point to geographic North now - they point to the North magnetic pole, somewhere in Canada at the moment.

They would continue to point to the north magnetic pole, even if it moved to Argentina.

[The Sons of Liberty]

Quick - Get Algore on this! It HAS to be the Republican's fault!

[Logic n' Reason]

I wonder who gets to throw the switch to change the magnetic field of the earth??

Now THAT</B< would be a cool job!

Think of the power....!!

[ladtx]

Hope it's not as catastrophic as Y2K was.

[Redbob]

"A reversal could... widen atmospheric ozone holes,..."

OF course;
so the only solution is to ban the internal combustion engine and stop free trade, right?

[RockinRight]

Seems kinda tinfoil hat-ish to me. However, as you said its more plausible than suggesting that the Aqua-Net the 80s hair metal bands used caused an ozone hole.

[litehaus]

Ad on Page 6!!! Getcher new compass--- only $9.99 plus shipping.........

[Mr.Atos]

Core samples from the mid-Atlantic ridge show a pattern of repeating flips throughout geologic history. Someone correct me, but I believe the average length of a period is in the neighborhood of 10,000 years. (My Geomorphology background is a decade old and a bit rusty). The event is is not unique by any means - to the Earth nor to Man. What IS unique however (and of grave concern), is that an upcoming 'flip' will be the first such event to impact 'modern' man... dependent on radio waves, electric grids, electromagnetic fields, compasses, polarity, etc. The effects are unknown. The 'flip' itself will be one issue to contend with. But, no one is really certain how long the interval between polarity will last. In geologic time it is relatively insignificant as to be imperceptible. But, that could be anywhere from 1 to 500 years.

Now we witness the irresponsibility of 'kook' science. So sure have environmentalists wanted to be about the Greenhouse Effects impact on the Earth's temperature and the variations in Ozone - Man's destruction qua industrialization - that they NEVER considered other rational possibilities. Man has WASTED decades of time, effort, and millions discussion one problem, while not preparing for another... possibly the real problem. The geologic record told us this was coming. NO DOUBT!

[Tribune7]

The problem w/ the Times is that nobody on that paper has read Chicken Little or the Boy or Cried Wolf.

[jpl]

Bush knew, and the pole shift is being caused by greedy Americans driving SUVs.

[bigeasy_70118]

What does this have to do with John Kerry's service in the Vietnam War?

[Robert A Cook PE]

Well, there are a couple of errors/differences to be remembered:

From data in magnetic fields in rapidly-cooling lava flows, the transition is actually expected to be very short: perhaps as little as days and weeks.

The "heavens and earth" DON'T CHANGE if/when the magnetic field flips: Only the direction of the compass, and of course, ANYTHING (birds, snails, mammals, butterflies) that relies on their internal compasses for navigation gets affected. But the stars remain exactly where they were, and the earth's actual rotation remains the same.

Climate changes? Maybe, maybe not. No real evidence either way?

Does magnetic flips relate to current global warming? Don't know. Nobody is looking either!

---

Now: Earth's magnetic field is "rapidly" lowering in magnitude compared to earlier data.

Now: Earth's "north magnetic pole" is VERY RAPIDLY moving away from the Hudson bay and is now heading north-northwest towards Siberia at about 150-300 miles per year.

Earth's south magnetic pole is NOT changing as much, nor in a comparable direction.

---

But it is all Bush's fault.

[sphinx]

Uhhh, if the flip is 180 degrees, why would compasses be a problem? I think I could adjust to the pointy end pointing south on my trusty field companion. (Although I'm sure compass manufacturers would make a fortune telling us we all had to buy new ones so the arrow still pointed north.)

[Poohbah]

We're doomed! The magnetic field collapse will kill my pony! And I don't even have it yet!

[Citizen of the Savage Nation]

Will compasses point South?

No, they will always point North. Wherever that North is.

[SuziQ]

Whoa!! I guess that movie The Core really DID have it right! ;o)

[MissAmericanPie]

Much ado about nothing. I am a little curious about the bulge at the equator, perhaps a diet is called for.