# Are the earth's poles going to shift soon?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-earths-poles-going-to-shift-soon/164194
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
**Created:** [March 26, 2003, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-earths-poles-going-to-shift-soon/164194 "2003-03-26T02:50:48Z")
**Posts on this page:** 16
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Gumbercules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gumbercules)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2003, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-earths-poles-going-to-shift-soon/164194/1 "2003-03-26T02:50:48Z")
Regarding [this question](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_117.html), I understood the question to refer to the fact that the North and South poles actually reverse every half-million years or so.
This is supported by evidence taken from oceanic crust going away from the mid-ocean ridges.
Cecil’s reply didn’t really address this.
So what would happen to us next time the N and S poles switched?
Or is it all bogus? It’s in the textbook I’m using to teach my 9th graders, but a quick web search turns up a lot of whacko sites.
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2003, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-earths-poles-going-to-shift-soon/164194/2 "2003-03-26T04:20:25Z")
It’s not the geographic poles that switch but the [magnetic poles](http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s101783.htm).
The magentic pole switch is backed by lots of real science. It’s the geographic pole switch that appears on fringe science sites.
It appeared to have originated in Edgar Cayce’s writings. [This page](http://www.edgarcayce.org/am/poleshifts.html) talks about it and tries to make it appear that Cayce was really talking about magnetic poles.
The Kirschvink article in _Science_ that the sites claims refers to a true geographic pole switch 500 million years ago is discussed in readable form in a [Scientific American article](http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000D1CA5-AB38-1C76-9B81809EC588EF21). Note that Kirschvink really refers to a ninety degree shifting due to continental drift over a 15 million year period, not a sudden pole shift.
I don’t find much new on this hypothesis. It’s possible but even supporters called it a wild idea. Some geologist can come in and let us know if it was ever widely accepted, no matter how much scientists want to explain the changes to the Cambrian.
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### Author:  [@gypsymoth3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gypsymoth3)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2003, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-earths-poles-going-to-shift-soon/164194/3 "2003-04-02T02:39:24Z")
i am a creationist. i go to a christian school. my eighth grade teacher said that noah’s flood had tilted the earth about 32 degrees. last year when we studied the book of revelation a.k.a. the apocalypse my bible teacher said that during the “millenial reign”, everything will be like it was in the grarden of eden. this made me curious; so i asked him how the earth would tilt back to its original position. he says that the severe earthquakes, tidal waves, volcanoes, meteors, and an asteroid will shake it back into its natural position.
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### Author:  [@peepthis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peepthis)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2003, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-earths-poles-going-to-shift-soon/164194/4 "2003-04-02T03:12:25Z")
**gypsymoth** , is that an April Fool’s post (I hope)?
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### Author:  [@gypsymoth3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gypsymoth3)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2003, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-earths-poles-going-to-shift-soon/164194/5 "2003-04-02T21:35:30Z")
no, what part don’t you believe? if it’s just the whole thing about the earth tilting b/c of the flood and tilting again during the millenium, then do you believe the evolutionists’ theories about the earth tilting?
i bet you’d think i was crazy to say that 1/3 of all plantlife will be destroyed and that the earth will start spinning at 3 times it’s normal speed, reducing a day to 16 hours as opposed to 24?
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### Author:  [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2003, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-earths-poles-going-to-shift-soon/164194/6 "2003-04-02T22:25:27Z")
\*\*gypsymoth3, \*\* I hope you pay better attention to your math teacher in the future. If the earth were to triple its current rate of spin, a day would be 8 hours, not 16. I’ll not argue theology with you, but I’ll warn you that sticking to creationism will cause the scientists you encounter in your life to regard you as a fool. Be prepared for that, youngster. Keeping your faith in the face of ridicule will require great courage.
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### Author:  [@mok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mok)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2003, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-earths-poles-going-to-shift-soon/164194/7 "2003-04-02T22:47:29Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by gypsymoth3 \*
> \*\*do you believe the evolutionists’ theories about the earth tilting? \*\*
“Evolutionists” don’t have any theories about the earth tilting. You are thinking of “geologists”.
-mok
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### Author:  [@gypsymoth3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gypsymoth3)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2003, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-earths-poles-going-to-shift-soon/164194/8 "2003-04-03T00:41:21Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by AskNott \*
> \*\*\*\*gypsymoth3, \*\* I hope you pay better attention to your math teacher in the future. If the earth were to triple its current rate of spin, a day would be 8 hours, not 16. I’ll not argue theology with you, but I’ll warn you that sticking to creationism will cause the scientists you encounter in your life to regard you as a fool. Be prepared for that, youngster. Keeping your faith in the face of ridicule will require great courage. \*\*
my b.
whatever.
you get the point.
do the math yourself 'cause my brain is fried today from SATs.
oh, and it was my Bible teacher.
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### Author:  [@gypsymoth3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gypsymoth3)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2003, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-earths-poles-going-to-shift-soon/164194/9 "2003-04-03T00:43:18Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by mok \*
> \*\*“Evolutionists” don’t have any theories about the earth tilting. You are thinking of “geologists”.
> -mok \*\*
i mean geologists who believe in evolution since creationists don’t believe the earth is more than 10.000 years old. so i guess we’re both right in which term is correct.
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### Author:  [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2003, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-earths-poles-going-to-shift-soon/164194/10 "2003-04-27T19:50:18Z")
Gypsymoth3, you walk a fine line when you see matters of observable science as a matter of faith. I encourage you to keep your faith strong but I also encourage you to do some critical thinking. How does a massive flood, even one that covers all the land on earch cause the earth’s rotational axis to tilt? The highest mountain and deepest point in the oceans are only about seven miles above and below the mean sea level. That and the crust make an eggshell thin layer compared to the size of the earth. How does any upheaval in the crust cause the axis to rotate.
FWIW I’m a Christian too but I don’t interpret the creation story the same way your teachers do but that’s a topic for great debates.
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [April 27, 2003, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-earths-poles-going-to-shift-soon/164194/11 "2003-04-27T21:27:52Z")
That oughta raise some questions, Gypsymoth. How are earthquakes, for example, supposed to shift the Earth on its axis? How is an asteroid big enough to do the same supposed to come along and hit Earth without killing everything on it?
> [@](#):
>
> i mean geologists who believe in evolution since creationists don’t believe the earth is more than 10.000 years old. so i guess we’re both right in which term is correct.
You’re conflating evolution, which is about creatures adapting to their environment, with geology. Geologists who think the Earth is 10,000 years old are pretty much putting themselves out of a job, since geologic evidence says the Earth is about 4 billion years old. 😉
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### Author:  [@Gumbercules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gumbercules)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2003, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-earths-poles-going-to-shift-soon/164194/12 "2003-04-28T02:59:28Z")
Yeah, I’m pretty sure you’re not a Catholic (I’m not either) but you may be interested to know that the Pope has declared both evolution and the big bang to be true. No kidding.
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### Author:  [@Gumbercules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gumbercules)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2003, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-earths-poles-going-to-shift-soon/164194/13 "2003-04-28T03:01:07Z")
I meant that to Gypsymoth, BTW.
This board really needs an EDIT POST feature…
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### Author:  [@Sock\_Munkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sock_Munkey)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2003, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-earths-poles-going-to-shift-soon/164194/14 "2003-04-28T19:35:35Z")
The lack of post editing is to keep people from getting away with saying things that would get them banned deleting it before the moderators see it.
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2003, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-earths-poles-going-to-shift-soon/164194/15 "2003-04-28T20:19:39Z")
Heh, too bad they can’t at least remove the EDIT button, in that case.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2003, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-the-earths-poles-going-to-shift-soon/164194/16 "2003-04-28T20:40:58Z")
The button is still there because moderators can edit. They need to have something on the page that they can click.
On the other hand, there are some other moderator features which, in the current version of the software, only appear when a mod is reading the thread. Probably, the folks over at Jelsoft (the company which makes vBulletin) could arrange for the “edit” button to be the same way. But that’s probably a larger change than the staff here is willing/able to make.