Don't worry, it's not the end of the world. He also does not predict catastrophes (and we are already in one). Yes, the magnetic north pole is shifting. He makes it out of Canada and moves to Russia. A group of European scientists thinks they know why. It's a pretty quick shift. Forced more frequent updates to GPS navigation systems. Including those who use the maps of our smartphones. Of course you certainly didn't notice it.
The team is led by the University of Leeds, England. It ensures that the behavior is explained by the competition between two magnetic masses in the outer core of the earth. Certain changes in the flow of molten material within the planet change the strength of the areas with negative magnetic flux.
"This change in flow pattern weakens the bottom of Canada. Slightly increases the strength of the patch under Siberia, "said Dr. Phil Livermore of the team.
Therefore the magnetic north pole shifts. It leaves its historical position in the Canadian Arctic. You have exceeded the international date limit. Northern Russia wins the tug of war, ”he said.
Not one, but many poles
It is important to remember that the earth has three poles at the top. Didn't you know Well, we'll explain it to you. The first is a geographic pole. Here the planet's axis of rotation intersects the surface. Then there is the geomagnetic pole. It is the place that best fits a classic dipole (its position hardly changes).
Finally, there is the magnetic north pole, where the field lines are perpendicular to the surface. This is the one who has moved.
It was first identified in the 1830s by explorer James Clark Ross. At that time it was in Nunavut, an autonomous area in the northeast of Canada.
Back then it wasn't too far or too fast. In the nineties, however, it began to move in ever wider latitudes. It crossed the international date line in late 2017. It was a few hundred kilometers from the geographic pole.
The magnetic north pole moves … slower and slower
The team's latest model shows that the pole will continue to move towards Russia. At some point, however, it should decrease. At its top speed, he drove 50-60 km a year. "Nobody knows whether things will go backwards or not in the future," said the British scientist.
This recent polo career forced certain changes. The US National Center for Geophysical Data and the British Geological Survey released an early update of the World Magnetic Model. It is a representation of the earth's magnetic field around the world. It is included in all navigation devices. Including modern smartphones to correct local compass errors.
Livermore and his colleagues relied heavily on data that satellites had received from the European Space Agency's swarm mission.
The team published its research results in the journal Natural geosciences.
