- creating a climate 'disaster' that wiped out the Neanderthals - and it could happen again, study warns

• Australian researchers have found radiocarbon spikes in ancient kauri trees 
• They reveal a breakdown of Earth's magnetic field that sparked climate shifts 
• The leadup to this breakdown led to lethal radiation exposure and extinctions 

A reversal of the magnetic poles 42,000 years ago triggered catastrophic climate change and may have wiped out Neanderthals, a new study shows.

Australian researchers have analysed the radiocarbon record from ancient trees in New Zealand that were alive when the magnetic poles flipped.

The trees revealed spikes in atmospheric radiocarbon levels, caused by the collapse of Earth's magnetic field and changing solar winds.

But preceding the flip was a weakening of the magnetic fields, causing electrical storms, crimson skies, widespread auroras and lethal cosmic radiation that frazzled our early ancestors and the Earth's wildlife.  

The researchers dubbed this danger period the 'Adams Transitional Geomagnetic Event', or 'Adams Event' for short – a tribute to science fiction writer Douglas Adams. 

The British author famously wrote in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy that '42' was the answer to life, the universe, and everything.    

With the Earth's magnetic field having weakened by around nine per cent in the past 170 years, researchers warn that the next apocalyptic polar flip 'may be just around the corner'.