I got hold of a book, ‘The Erratic Planet: what happens when the Earth changes its axis of rotation‘ by Ian Niall Rankin, mainly becuse I wanted to find out if such a thing was possible. It turned out to be an alternative view on how the solar system actually works. The author, I.N. Rankin, came up with the idea the Sun is in a constant attraction and repulsion theatre with what he calls the magnetic centre of the solar system. Rhodes Fairbridge came up with the idea of the Sun revolving around its baryonic centre – a process that took many years. In this new theory the journey around the magnetic centre, or the Sun’s interaction with a magnetic centre, is an ongoing process that is never ending. It is the key to how the solar system originated and how it persists. However, there is a flaw. As long as the solar wind maintains a constant pressure on the planets, including the Earth, Venus and Mars, there will be stability. When the solar wind, or the electromagnetism endemic to the Sun showers too much energy on one hemisphere, instead of evenly over the two hemispheres, the system introduces instability. This is capable of causing changes in the axis of rotation, wobbles in rotations, and the angle of tilt etc. Basically, Rankin wanted to come up with a mechanism to create pole shift and change in the axis of rotation, not allowed in the mainstream view of the solar system. He is convinced there has been pole shifts in the past and what mainstream calls the Ice Ages were in fact a succession of shifts in the position of the polar ice caps. However, he had to seek out other sources of ideas that might support his theory and although he appears to have swallowed some of Velikovsky’s ideas his name is not mentioned. In the text or in the bibliography. He also relied on some of the ideas of Peter Warlow in his book, The Reversing Earth, unaware that Warlow had dropped the idea of major axial changes in the Holocene. As a physicist he took onboard the criticism of fellow physicists and on his death was actively seeking evidence of pre-Holocene changes – such as the likes of the Late Glacial Maximum. Rankin’s ideas on the Ice Ages would of course tie in with that new research that was subsequently lost to posterity on Warlow’s death. However, Rankin brings in changes to the rotation in the Holocene – almost into the present, using one of Warlow’s mechanisms, and straight out of his book, if you like. The problem is there is very little peer reviewed research on earth wobbles and the possibility of axial change. He was unable to cite specific evidence that might back up his theory. Not only that, in his conclusionary notes he admits the lack of evidence for a magnetic centre is a major drawback in his idea being found acceptable.
Having said that, Rankin discusses the drawback to the idea the ice sheets expanded, quoting various mainstream theories. He also notes that trade winds and hurricanes transport heat away from the equator when it is overloaded. Presumably as a result of bullseye hits by CMEs. The Gulf Stream in the Atlantic and the Kiroshio current in the Pacific do a similar thing, transporting heat towards the Arctic. Currents of cool water in both oceans periodically transfer cool ocean water south from the pole towards the equator, in a reverse side of the same system. All this is well known to advocates of an enclosed earth system – such as Gaia.