Earth is not flat.

However, there is a lot of attempts to persuade people that pole shifts are benign events.

We weren't around for the one 800 000 years ago roughly except that the oldest ice on earth is apparently 800 000 years old. Before that the ice didn't survive from the long ice ages that existed, it was a different climate for a time.

And at that date the cycles of ice ages changed to 100 000 year cycle, and they don't fully know why.

Perhaps it has something to do with earth's axis.


However there was a brief pole shift, a complete reversal that took place 41 000 years ago.

Neandrathal died out then.

And apparently it was a time of volcanic eruptions probably leading to an ice age.

[link to www.iflscience.com (secure)]

So its not exactly benign.