It’s a fact that the magnetic north pole changes its location. Scientists have found ways to make adjustments in the compass. However, the never-static pole has made quick changes recently that scientists are now scrambling to look for ways to do something about it. After all, this is the very thing that guides the world’s compasses and GPS systems.
Recently, however, the north has moved a little more quickly than expected that scientists have no choice but to update their model of the planet’s magnetic field. They had to do this one year earlier than they expected to do.
“Due to unplanned variations in the Arctic region, scientists have released a new model to more accurately represent the change of the magnetic field,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Centers for Environmental Information. They had spoken to the press last Monday and released this surprising statement.
Why all the furor and the hustle? It’s because the change is imperative to pinpoint the precise location of the north pole. This will help that navigational systems (such as the ones used as apps), government organizations, airliners, and others work with exact precision. Otherwise, these programs will be futile and obsolete, which will only create chaos.
Historically, the northern magnetic pole has shifted from Canada’s Arctic regions toward Russia in a relatively smooth fashion since 1831. In fact, the first ever World Magnetic Model, funded by the military both in the US and the UK, had been tasked with tracking the positions of the Earth’s three magnetic poles. Since its inception, the prototype only needed an update every five years.
As the experts observed in recent years, the pole’s drift has speeded up its movement. It’s now headed towards Russia at unprecedented speed. This has thrown off GPS systems. Those tasked with the challenging job of making adjustments know that pilots and maritime navigators may be at risk if nothing will be done. This may even force them to rely on old-school compass-based guiding systems for the time being.
Cierran Beggan, a geophysicist at the British Geological Survey, spoke to The Guardian and said, “We know from old ships’ logs that in the past 400 years, the north magnetic pole has hung around northern Canada. Until the 1900s, it moved perhaps tens of kilometers, back and forth. But in the past 50 years it started to move north, and in the past 30 years it started to accelerate away … It went from moving at about five to 10km [ six miles] a year to 50 or 60km a year today. It’s now moving rapidly towards Siberia.”
What exactly caused this quick drift? Scientists say that this is simply the result of processes deep in the center of the planet. Found within the earth’s liquid outer core are iron and nickel. These spin and flow like water. These two elements have served as a conductor for the magnetic field.
The recent changes in the liquid’s flow is believed to be akin to that of a jet stream found in the atmosphere. This is the very source of our planet’s magnetic field. “The north magnetic pole has been caught up in this jet and it’s pushing it rapidly across to Siberia,” Beggan further stated. Because of its stream-like movement, the World Magnetic Model has lost its accuracy at an increasingly higher pace.
“The error is increasing all the time,” Arnaud Chulliat, a geomagnetist at the University of Colorado Boulder and NOAA, said. The movement doesn’t come as a surprise since these are all an integral and natural part of the Earth’s behavior. It also must be noted that human activity has nothing to do with this. In fact, rock samples reveal that the magnetic field had been in constant motion for millions of years.
Nature plays a big part in locating the magnetic field. Migratory animals such as birds, butterflies, and whales use this for movement as well. If there’s any lesson to be made from this, it’s simply that the latest shift in the earth’s magnetic north pole is a learning opportunity for us. After all, experts had only learned about the pole in 1831.
For now, work continues and the latest and more updated version of the model should remain accurate. They will look into this next year to track changes once again.
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