It's a good question regarding the poles... The poles are purported as weakening and accelerating in its travel. This of course, is another example of toroidal geometry and relates to the Fibonacci sequence. The dynamics of it is complicated... If you consider it magnetically with the flux lines entering and existing at the poles, it is believed that it charges the Earth like a battery of sorts or even like a giant capacitor that charges and discharges. The energy coming from the solar winds seem to charge the Earth. We see this energy in the form of aurora borealis. This energy from the solar winds is said to charge the Earth causing its core heat up its molten mantle. Volcanism is one of the results we see from this. With the weakening of the Earth's magnetic field, it causes a weakening in the magnetosphere. This is the so-called Van Allen Radiation Belt, in which is purported to protect us from deadly solar radiation.

There's different theories on what will happen if the poles flip, but no one knows for sure. The Earth is said to rotate at an angle of 23.5 degrees. Will a magnetic flip of the poles cause the Earth's physical angle to change? I have no idea. Believe it or not, I've given considerable thought to this. I can't even figure out the reason for our seasons (summer, winter, etc.) in term of the Earth's angle and revolution around the sun. It makes no sense to me. If I don't understand the mechanism causing the seasons, then how can I understand a polar shift?