Thursday, March 6, 2025

Catch the drifting pole

 

This was all over the news a short while ago -- the Earth's northern magnetic pole position has been updated, and it is headed straight across the Arctic Ocean toward Siberia. 

It happens to be fairly close to the actual North Pole right now. So your compasses will work if you are trying to find Santa. However, be aware that the sea ice is getting thin, so don't fall through.

Earth’s magnetic north pole is on the move, and scientists just updated its position


"Since its discovery, magnetic north has drifted away from Canada and toward Russia. By the 1940s, magnetic north had moved northwest from its 1831 position by about 250 miles (400 kilometers). In 1948, it reached Prince Wales Island, and by 2000 it had departed Canadian shores.

“It has typically moved about 10 km (6.2 miles) per year or less over the last 400 years,” [geophysicist and geomagnetism researcher] Brown said.

However, the latest WMM update follows a period of highly unusual activity for the magnetic north pole. In 1990, its northern drift accelerated, increasing from 9.3 miles (15 kilometers) per year to 34.2 miles (55 kilometers) per year, Chulliat said. The shift “was unprecedented as far as the records we have,” he added."

The linked article has a video of the pole drift, but here's a motionless diagram.

 



No comments: