42: The Answer to Almost Everything · Season 1 · Episode 113

What if the poles reversed again?

Sunday, April 28 · 29 min

In theory, it's simple: the North Pole is in the north, and the South Pole is in the south. And a compass needle always points north—or, more precisely, toward the magnetic North Pole, a point on Earth located not far from the geographic North Pole. But what would happen if things were to change? In fact, the magnetic North Pole is moving right now, and so rapidly that the Earth's magnetic field could well reverse: the magnetic North Pole would then find itself in the geographic south, and vice versa. This change won't happen overnight, of course, but if it does, won't humans and animals be completely disoriented?