Since the poles reverse every 10,000 years, we're probably due.
The sun's magnetic field flipped in 2001, and does so a little more frequently than the earth's.
The shift in magnetic north is affecting (currently) some navigation - air and land - that depends on compass orienteering. Satellite GPS is not affected.
At a circumference of 24,859.82 miles (measured at the poles):
1/2(24,859.82 miles) = 12,429.91 miles divided by 40 miles/year = 310.75 years for the poles to reverse towards the middle or end of the year 2321 (the 24th Century, just in time for Jean Luc Picard and the Next Generation).
But the complete reversal will be much too late to coincide with the Nostradamus and 2012 prediction fringe!
My last tongue-in-cheek is the title (I did not originate it):
Adjust your compass now: the north pole is migrating to Russia, Science section, the Independent, by Guy Adams in Los Angeles
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