>This is when the maganetic and the physical polar caps are going to switch again. Last time it occured was 12,000 BC - the beginning of the last age. That caused the rapid decline of the Atlantis civilization, either because of the slide of the Earth's crust, or because a big meteor striking Earth.

Or because the inhabitants of Atlantis discovered atomic energy and misused it. At least, that's what a friend of mine, a Rosicrucian, claims. (I can imagine an ancient civilization making brilliant scientific discoveries which are later forgotten, especially if they destroy themselves. But it still seems somewhat doubtful to me that a massive use of atomic energy can actually sink a continent.)