The north and south magnetic poles might swap places and the consequences will be disastrous, according to a warning by leading scientists.
The magnetic poles will flip because of the changes taking place in the core of our planet.
ALSO READ: Watermelon snow spotted in Montana's Grinnell Glacier
Earth is shielded from hazardous solar radiations and solar wind by the invisible magnetic field generated by the Earth's core, and the poles anchor it. However, this field is shifting constantly. This catastrophic occurrence would weaken and reduce this defence drastically.
The poles have exchanged places many times before, according to Earth's history. The poles swap in a span of around 200,000-300,000 years.
ALSO READ: Mysterious crater leaves residents baffled in French resort town [Video]
"It's been nearly 800,000 years since it has happened, so we are certainly long overdue, although pole reversals often have irregular gaps and the huge time frame means we are unlikely to see it happen in our lifetimes," a report by morningticker.com said.
Multiple signs have been provided by high-tech monitoring equipment that the planet's magnetic field will turn upside down, a report by Daily Mail revealed.
ALSO READ: Burj Khalifa-sized 'potentially hazardous' asteroid to pass by Earth next month: Top things to know
In case this calamitous event takes place, the magnetic field will become weaker because of the changes taking place over the past thousands of year.
Liquid iron is present in Earth's core. It remains in the molten state because of the heat at the planet's core. The swirling currents of the molten iron act as a huge electromagnet that forms a force field spread for miles and acts as an energy shield that safeguards Earth from hazardous solar radiation. This protection is the reason why life prevails on Earth.
ALSO READ: Cambridgeshire police reveal about UFO and alien sightings
If this protection is not there, the DNA of plants and animals would be torn by solar rays. If the swapping of the north and south magnetic poles takes place, researchers have warned that some regions on Earth might become uninhabitable, according to a report by Deccan Chronicle.
"The consequences for the electrical and electronic infrastructure that runs modern civilisation will be dire," said Alanna Mitchell, author of a new book titled The Spinning Magnet: The Electromagnetic Force That Created The Modern World And Could Destroy It, as quoted by Daily Mail.
"The satellite timing systems that govern electric grids would be likely to fail. The grid's transformers could be torched. Because grids are so tightly coupled with each other, failure would race across the globe, causing a domino run of blackouts that could last for decades," Mitchell elucidated further.
Though a lot of data regarding this is present, experts have different opinions on how adverse the impact of this event will be.
