Only thing that is constant is change, even with some theories that came by over a long period of time.
Reading this, it looks like there are some possibilities... The serious option: Axis of planet seems to be changing causing some sort of electro magnetic flux (the ones that created the Amazon rainforest from a desert and vice versa for Sahara)... That may be the reason for change, however it could not have happened without a gradual degradation. Now with respect to the article, it looks like this thing could have happened over night, as if the south and north poles changed positions one fine day....
Other wise, i would say God or the Cosmic Corporate wrote a piece of code like Windows Vista and found that it was too bad and upgraded it over nite without a notice or down time...:-)