Some scientists have estimated that Earth could be due for another magnetic field flip with the last being over 780,000 years ago, and you can hear the haunting audio of what the process would sound like.
While climate change is having an irreversible effect on our planet, especially as we reach a terrifying tipping point according to scientists, one major event hundreds of thousands of years in the making could have a more damaging impact.
Earth's magnetic field, which determines the direction of north and south while also offering significant protection from damaging solar winds emanating from the Sun, has remained largely static for an incredibly long time, yet some scientists and experts predict that this could change soon.
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As reported by the Daily Mail, across the Earth's long history the magnetic poles have flipped around every 200,000 to 300,000 years, but it has been over 780,000 since the last flip took place.
This flip wouldn't happen overnight, and could take hundreds or even thousands of years to be completed, yet it would have a detrimental effect on the lives of everyone on Earth in some way.
What would happen if Earth's magnetic field flipped?
Much like a solar storm from the Sun, the flipping of Earth's magnetic poles would have a significantly negative effect on communication systems which rely completely on the current configuration.
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You can see a glimpse of what could happen right now when looking at what scientists call the South Atlantic Anomaly, which is an area that has seen its geomagnetic field strength decrease at a greater speed than the rest of the planet.
Satellites are known to malfunction when scanning over this area, as they are exposed to highly charged particles from the sun due to the decreased magnetic field.
Some have even used this to speculate that an overall flip is on the horizon, although others aren't quite as convinced with this claim. Andreas Nilsson, a geologist at Lund University, outlines:
"We have mapped changes in the Earth's magnetic field over the past 9,000 years and anomalies like the one in the South Atlantic are probably recurring phenomena linked to corresponding variations in the strength of Earth's magnetic field.
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"Based on similarities with the recreated anomalies, we predict that the South Atlantic Anomaly will probably disappear within the next 300 years, and that Earth is not heading towards a polarity reversal."
When it comes to the health of humans, the magnetic field flipping wouldn't necessarily be life threatening, although it would increase the risk of cancer due to an uptick in radiation, and lounging on the beach would become a more dangerous activity.
What would a magnetic flip sound like?
If you ever wanted to hear what the flipping of Earth's magnetic poles would have sounded like 780,000 years ago, researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam, Germany have thankfully made their own recreation.
Using three violins and three cellos, the team crafted a musical replica of the flipping process, which starts harmonic and almost calm, before leading into chaos near the end.
It's definitely worth giving a listen, as you can easily picture what would happen to our planet through the sound of the strings.