What fast-moving magnetic north pole means for the world
Scientists say the pole is shifting towards Russia at rate of around 34 miles a year
Earth’s magnetic north pole is moving faster than at any other time since records began - and technology is struggling to keep up, scientists are warning.
Used by navigators for millennia, the magnetic north pole is the point in the northern hemisphere at which the planet’s magnetic field points vertically downwards. A magnetic compass points to this pole, which is not the same as the geographic North Pole - the fixed point at which the lines of longitude meet at the top of the world.
By contrast, the magnetic pole naturally shifts around, and is currently doing so at a surprising rate, causing potential problems for mapping and geolocation technology.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
This drift is the result of processes taking place at the centre of the Earth. “Molten iron and nickel slosh and spin in the planet’s core, essentially serving as a metallic conductor for Earth’s magnetic field,” says NPR.
The “changes in that fluid flow lead to changes in the magnetic field”, and can result in the pole shifting geographically, the US-based news site explains.
The first measurement of the magnetic pole was taken in 1831 in the Canadian Arctic, The Guardian reports. Since then, it has moved about 1,400 miles (2,250km) toward Siberia.
As a result of this drift, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) World Magnetic Model (WMM) - a mathematical representation of the magnetic field - slowly falls out of sync. Until now, the model has been updated every five years, with the last update in 2015.
Accurate readings of the magnetic north pole by the WMM are vital for military, undersea and aircraft navigation, commercial airlines, search-and-rescue operations and other projects circling the North Pole, says Live Science.
Organisations including Nasa and the US Forest Service also rely on the model for surveying and mapping, and satellite and antenna tracking.
“Even smartphone and consumer electronics companies need an accurate model so that they can provide users with up-to-date maps and compass applications,” says the site, which adds that GPS is not affected because it is satellite-based.
However, since 2000 the rate at which the magnetic north pole is moving has jumped from about nine miles (14.5km) to 34 miles (55km) a year.
These “unplanned variations”, as the NOAA describes them, has prompted to release of an early WMM update this week, nearly a year ahead of schedule.
“It’s not the fact that the pole is moving that is a problem, it’s the fact that it’s accelerating at this rate,” said William Brown, a geophysicist at the British Geological Survey. “The more acceleration or deceleration there is, the harder to predict where the thing is going to be.”
Indeed, National Geographic reports that rocks “hold geologic maps of even weirder movements of the magnetic poles, suggesting that in the last 20 million years, magnetic north and south have flipped places multiple times” - something that appears to happen roughly every 200,000 to 300,000 years.
However, experts say that the latest acceleration toward Russia does not necessarily indicate that another reversal is in the pipeline.
“And even if there was a reversal, geological records show these things tend to take a few thousand years, at the very least,” Ciaran Beggan, a geophysicist with the British Geological Survey, told the magazine.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
'The House under GOP rule has become a hostile workplace'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
The Shohei Ohtani gambling scandal is about more than bad bets
In The Spotlight The firestorm surrounding one of baseball's biggest stars threatens to upend a generational legacy and professional sports at large
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Feds raid Diddy homes in alleged sex trafficking case
Speed Read Homeland Security raided the properties of hip hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
How happy is Finland really?
Today's Big Question Nordic nation tops global happiness survey for seventh year in a row with 'focus on contentment over joy'
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
How Tehran became the world's nose job capital
Under the radar Iranian doctors raise alarm over low costs, weak regulation and online influence of 'Western beauty standards'
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Africa's renewed battle against female genital mutilation
Under the radar Campaigners call for ban in Sierra Leone after deaths of three girls as coast-to-coast convoy prepares to depart
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Argentina: the therapy capital of the world
Under the radar Buenos Aires natives go hungry to pay for psychoanalysis, amid growing instability, anxiety – and societal acceptance
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Does declining birth rate spell doom for Britain?
Today's Big Question Ageing population puts pressure on welfare state, economy and fabric of society, while fertility is rising on populist agendas
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
How a new blood test could revolutionise sepsis diagnosis
The Explainer Early results from ongoing trial suggest faster identification of deadly condition is possible
By The Week Staff Published
-
Kush: the drug destroying young lives in West Africa
The Explainer There has been a sharp rise in young addicts in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia
By Flora Neville, The Week UK Published
-
What is life like in Gaza now?
In depth Despite starvation, a sanitation crisis, blackouts and boredom, the 'mundane drumbeat of life continues'
By Elliott Goat, The Week UK Last updated