AS MAGNETIC NORTH POLE SHIFTS, BRACE FOR CHAOS
Guy Adams in Times of India, 07 / 03 / 2011
It sounds unlikely but true. The magnetic north pole is moving faster than at any time in human history, threatening everything from the safety of modern transport system to the traditional navigation routes of migrating animals.
Scientists say that magnetic north, which for two centuries has been in the icy wilderness of Canada, is currently relocating towards Russia at the rate of about 65 Kms per year. The speed of its movement has increased by a third in the past decade, prompting speculation that the field could be about to ‘flip’, causing compasses to invert and point south rather than north, something what happens between three and seven times every million years.
Already the phenomenon is causing problems in the field of aviation. Tampa International Airport in Florida has just spent a month renaming its three runaways, which in common with those at most US airports are identified using numbers that correspond to the direction in degrees, that they face on a compass. “Everything had to be changed; it was a huge project”. Brenda Geoghagan, a spokesman for the airport, said.
The current rate of magnetic north’s movement away from Canada’s Ellesmere Island is throwing out compasses by one degree every five years, prompting the Federal Aviation Administration to re-evaluate runaway names every five years.
The speed of relocation of the magnetic north pole increased significantly from about 1989, posdsibly because of a ‘pume’ of magnetic deep below the ground. The pole is now believed to be heading towards Siberia at the rate of about 65 Kms per year
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