The 2012 phenomenon comprises a range of eschatological
beliefs that cataclysmic or transformative events will occur on
December 21, 2012, which is said to be the end-date of a
5,125-year-long cycle in the Mayan Long Count calendar.
Various astronomical alignments and numerological formulae
related to this date have been proposed.
A geomagnetic reversal is a change in the orientation of Earth's magnetic field such
that the positions of magnetic north and magnetic south become interchanged.
These events often involve an extended decline in field strength followed by a
rapid recovery after the new orientation has been established. These events
occur on a scale of tens of thousands of years or longer, with the latest
one (the Brunhes–Matuyama reversal) occurring 780,000 years ago.
IT IS midnight on 22 September 2012 and the skies above Manhattan
are filled with a flickering curtain of colourful light. Few New Yorkers
have seen the aurora this far south but their fascination is short-lived.
Within a few seconds, electric bulbs dim and flicker, then become
unusually bright for a fleeting moment. Then all the lights in the
state go out. Within 90 seconds, the entire eastern half of the
US is without power. This is just the beginning...