For the past three centuries both physicists and geologists have been studying the Earth’s magnetic field trying to learn its secrets, and to be honest there’s still a great deal that they don’t know. They do know that the field is generated by the rotation of our planet’s liquid core, although precisely how is fuzzy. They also know that the magnetic poles swap positions every 200,000 to 400,000 years although why is still a mystery. Now let’s be fair though, it isn’t easy to study a phenomenon that is hidden from you by 2,000 kilometers of solid rock!
I’ve spoken before about the possibility that the magnetic poles may be in the initial stages of flipping; see my post of 8Feb2017. Now there is further evidence that the process may be starting. The location on Earth’s surface where the North Magnetic Pole pops out of the ground is moving at an accelerated speed and in an unpredictable direction.
For more than a century the North magnetic pole had been firmly positioned in northern Canada, a full 700-800 km from the physical North Pole. Now it’s been long known that the magnetic poles move slightly, a kilometer or two every year, but in the last 40 years the speed of that movement has been increasing year by year. Researchers estimate that the speed of the north magnetic pole has reached 55km per year, see map below.
As you can see from the map the north magnetic pole has in the last 20 years actually been getting much closer to the real North Pole, although if it keeps moving in its current direction it will soon start to pull away again. If the magnetic pole continues to move in its present direction it will enter the Siberian region of Russia within several decades.
Theorists are speculating that a high-speed jet of liquid iron deep beneath Canada may be causing the rapid movement. Another idea is that there are two jets, one each beneath Canada and Siberia and a tug of war between them is to blame for the increased speed with which the magnetic pole is moving. In either case the movement is starting to interfere with worldwide navigation systems.
Think about it, humans have used magnetic compasses for centuries as an aid to navigation and even today’s advanced GPS location networks still depend on knowing just where the north magnetic pole is. By the way in case you didn’t know it you smartphone contains a magnetometer for detecting the Earth’s magnetic field, your map app wouldn’t work without it.
In order for these computerized navigational systems to work accurately every five years scientists have been updating the ‘World’s Magnetic Model’ with the latest, precise location for the north magnetic pole. This model has been maintained by both the US Nation Oceanographic and Atmospherics Administration (NOAA) and the British Geological Survey. The next update is due in 2020 but because the north magnetic pole is moving so fast that update is needed right now.
There’s a problem however, because of the government shutdown in the US brought on by the fight over Donald Trump’s border wall the scientists at NOAA who work on the world’s magnetic model aren’t working on anything. They’ve been put on furlough until the impasse ends, whenever that may be. Meanwhile the navigational systems that our modern society depends on are slowly becoming more inaccurate as the North Magnetic Pole continues to move.