The Earth has a magnetic north and south pole, which regularly reverse poles.
What happens if this happens, and how does this affect plants, animals, and possibly humans?
Answer
We’ve never experienced it, a polarity reversal. The last polarity reversal happened 700,000 years ago. So we really don’t know. We can simulate it with computers (see attached link). In the short term (several thousand years) the poles will shift across the earth’s surface to the other side of the world. The magnetic field does not disappear.
From the fossil record it seems that a polarity reversal does not have much effect on the plants or animals. There is nothing in the fossil record to show that changes are occurring. We certainly don’t know for humans, because “homo sapiens” our species have only been around on Earth for 200,000 years and have therefore never experienced a polarity reversal.
Answered by
Prof. Manuel Sintubin
Tectonics Geodynamics Earthquake Geology Earthquake Archaeology
Old Market 13 3000 Leuven
https://www.kuleuven.be/
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