ANSWERS: 3
  • The North ans South poles are named such because of the magnetic field surrounding our planet produced by our solid iron core, it's north magnetic pole goes through the middle of the Arctic and it's south magnetic pole goes through the middle of Antarctica. It won't be long before the poles actually swap! On average every 1/4 million years the iron core swaps round, our magnetic field dissipates and re-emerges with the poles being in the opposite dirrection. Antarctica will now be the North pole and the Arctic will be the South pole.
  • The poles are where they are because of Earth's rotation. If you had an axel going through the Earth and on which Earth was rotating, it would come out the North and South poles. Why do we call them north and south? I don't know. Why is the North Pole at the top of most maps? Because the vast majority of the Earth's population lives in the northern hemisphere, most of the people who make maps are in the northern hemisphere. So, when conventions for map directions were being set, they decided to put north at the top of the maps. Had we all lived in the southern hemisphere, the South Pole would probably be at the tops of maps. Now to clear up some bad information that was given in another answer. Earth's magnetic field is thought to be generated in its LIQUID outer core, not the solid inner core. The magnetic field is created by circulation in the outer core which is strongly influenced by Earth's rotation. This is why the magnetic field is closely, but not perfectly, aligned on the geographic poles. The magnetic field does tend to wander and even change orientation as circulation in the outer core changes.
  • I sure hope this is not a homework question because people here give incorrect information. The north pole has a negative polarity while the south pole has a positive polarity. The north pole is an ice sheet. It has no land directly under it and therefore the ice melts quicker. There are no penguin at the north pole. The south pole has a land mass beneath the ice. It has colder temperatures, and penguin. In any case, don't eat polar bear liver. It can give you vitamin A poisoning. Oh, and the shifting of the North and South poles are not going to happen anytime soon. Definitely not in our lifetime.

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