The Earth’s magnetic North Pole is currently moving toward Russia in a way that British scientists have not seen before.
Scientists have been tracking the magnetic North Pole for centuries, telling the British newspaper The Times that it had moved closer to the northern coast of Canada. In the 1990s, it drifted into the Atlantic before moving in a faster manner toward Siberia in Russia.
Compass needles in the Northern Hemisphere point toward the magnetic North Pole, although the exact location of it changes from time to time as the contours of Earth’s magnetic field also change. The magnetic North Pole is sometimes confused with the geographic North Pole, but this spot stays at the same place as it is where all lines of longitude converge.
In the 300 years between 1600 and 1900, scientists estimate that the magnetic North Pole moved about six miles per year. At the beginning of this century, it picked up to about 34 miles per year, before slowing in the last five years to about 22 miles per year.
Why does the North Pole’s movement matter?
The moves are tracked as the data allows the compasses in our smartphones and other navigation devices to navigate.
Scientists told The Times these movements are tracked by the British Geological Survey and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In conjunction, they make the World Magnetic Model, that predicts where the pole should be at any time.
The model plays a role in the GPS systems we use on a day-to-day basis.
“Planes, boats, submarines, you name it, it’s in there,” William Brown, the global geomagnetic field modeler at the British Geological Survey, said in an interview with The Times.
What causes the movements?
Earth’s outer core is made up of mostly molten iron, a liquid metal. Unpredictable changes in the way it flows cause the magnetic field around the Earth to shift, which then causes the magnetic core to also move.
“It’s like a giant cup of tea,” Brown said to The Times. “It’s a hot liquid with the viscosity of water.”
Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at fernando.cervantes@gannett.com and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Earth’s magnetic North Pole moving. What does that mean?
