Flippin’ heck! The Earth’s magnetic poles can swap places
Nearly 42,000 years ago, the Earth got flipped turned upside down. It caused total chaos. And it might happen again soon. Mirjam Guesgen explains.
Seemingly randomly throughout time, the Earth’s magnetic poles flip – magnetic north swaps places with the magnetic south. Up until now, scientists weren’t really sure what that meant for the planet’s environment or climate, or thought it had little effect. But a paper published today in the journal Science turns that idea on its head too.
According to the study’s authors, including researchers from the University of Auckland, University of Waikato, Landcare Research, NIWA and the Gondwana Tree-Ring Laboratory, the flip devastated the Earth’s atmosphere and depleted the ozone layer. They think those changes may have been behind the extinction of really large animals and Neanderthal humans, as well as the advent of human cave art and the first sunscreen.