NOTE:
Earth's magnetic
North Pole may have
nothing to do with
climate change.
But I present this article
because it is typical
of real science, and
also interesting.
Things happen that
can't be explained.
Scientists know what
has happened, but
are baffled by why.
There is no simple
"answer" like the fake
"CO2 levels control
the climate of our planet,
and nothing else matters",
is the simple false narrative
designed for gullible
leftist simpletons.
( and anyone who
dares to disagree
is verbally attacked
as a science denier).
SUMMARY:
Earth’s
magnetic
North Pole
is moving.
For the first time
in recorded history,
the North Pole
has passed by the
Greenwich meridian
—the imaginary line
used to indicate
0° longitude,
and determine
time zones.
Geomagnetic specialist
Ciaran Beggan, from the
British Geological
Survey (BGS), told the
Financial Times:
“The movement
since the 1990s
is much faster
than at any time
for at least
four centuries.
We really
don’t know much
about the changes
in the (Earth's) core
that’s driving it.”
Polar wandering
has been constant
since the North Pole
was first discovered,
according to the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA)
of the U.S.Commerce Dept.
So why why should
anyone care about this ?
Because changes in recent
decades are happening at
unprecedented speeds
-- five times faster
than before !
DETAILS:
Continued rapid movement
of the magnetic north pole
will eventually begin
causing problems for
Global Positioning System
(GPS) accuracy, affecting
military operations, airliners,
and other navigation systems
that rely on pinpointing precisely
where the North Pole is located.
What does "eventually" mean ?
University of Wisconsin-Madison
geologist and NOAA study author
Brad Singer told CNN the shifts
in the pole could, in the long term,
lead to impacts on satellites,
communication, and navigation,
but researchers will likely
have generations to deal with
any major instability
in the magnetic field.
“The decrease in geomagnetic
field is much more important
and dramatic than the reversal,”
said Dr. Nicolas Thouveny
from the European Centre
for Research and Teaching
of Environmental Geosciences
(CEREGE) in Aix-en-Provence,
France.
“It is very important
to understand if the
present field will decay
to zero in the next century,
because we will have
to prepare.”
Migratory birds, butterflies,
and whales also use
the magnetic field
for directions, although
an effect on them, if any,
is not known.
NOAA's latest report, the
“World Magnetic Model”
for 2020 ("WMM 2020"),
shows the magnetic pole
speeding in the direction
of Siberia.
NOAA’s National Centers
for Environmental
Information explained:
“Since its first formal
discovery in 1831,
the north magnetic pole
has travelled around
1,400 miles (2,250 km).
This wandering has been
generally quite slow,
allowing scientists
to keep track of
its position fairly easily.”
As recently
as 2000,
the magnetic
North Pole
was moving
only 6.2 miles
per year toward
Northern Russia.
Data for the next
two decades show
the average rate
suddenly increasing
to roughly 34 miles
per year, in the
same direction.
Readings in 2019
show a similar
31 miles per year,
of movement.
The World Magnetic
Model 2020 predicts
the average speed
will slow down to
25 miles per year
from 2020 to 2025.
Not that I trust models !
“The WMM 2020
forecasts that
the northern
magnetic pole
will continue drifting
toward Russia,
although at a slowly
decreasing speed
—down to about
40 km per year
compared to the
average speed
of 55 km over the
past twenty years.”
The new model
also confirms
that Earth’s
magnetic field
is weakening.
If this continues,
the field could collapse
entirely and flip polarity
—changing magnetic north
to south, and vice versa
—with no good
consequences
for the planet.
Earth’s magnetic poles
have already flipped
up to 100 times in the past
20 million years, with the
last reversal about
773,000 years ago.
North Pole drift is believed
to be the result of processes
in the center of the planet.
A liquid outer core made of
iron and nickel spins and flows
like water, serving as a conductor
for Earth’s magnetic field.
The recent change
in the flow of the fluid,
assumed to cause
changes in the planet’s
magnetic field, may be
similar to the formation
of a jet stream in the
atmosphere !
Earth’s magnetic field
has been in perpetual
motion for millions
of years, based on
studies of rock samples.