Around 800,000 years ago the North was in the South and the South was in the North but the Earth's Poles flipped and caused a huge headache for compass makers of the day and they may be set to be left with boxes of stock which point the wrong way as the Earths magnetic field is preparing to flip all over again.
The Earth's magnetic field is in a weakening stage right now and will continue until it weakens sufficiently that it flips itself and the Geochronology Center at the University of California, Berkeley are saying that another flip is due soon.
'It's impossible to say whether we're just seeing the first of possibly several slight movements or a true reversal' said one geologist unhelpfully but did say that they have combed the geological time line and they do not have any evidence of catastrophes that might be related to a magnetic flip.
However, if the magnetic field weakens enough or temporarily disappears during the flip, then the Earth could be hit with dangerous amounts of solar radiation and cosmic rays which is not a good thing.
Probably not a good idea to start up a compass making business anytime soon.
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