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Earth’s Magnetic Field is Acting up and Geologists Don’t Know Why

posted by martyb on Sunday January 13 2019, @02:53PM   
from the Magnetic-north!=north-pole dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

Something strange is going on at the top of the world. Earth’s north magnetic pole has been skittering away from Canada and towards Siberia, driven by liquid iron sloshing within the planet’s core. The magnetic pole is moving so quickly that it has forced the world’s geomagnetism experts into a rare move.

On 15 January, they are set to update the World Magnetic Model, which describes the planet’s magnetic field and underlies all modern navigation, from the systems that steer ships at sea to Google Maps on smartphones.

The most recent version of the model came out in 2015 and was supposed to last until 2020 — but the magnetic field is changing so rapidly that researchers have to fix the model now. “The error is increasing all the time,” says Arnaud Chulliat, a geomagnetist at the University of Colorado Boulder and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) National Centers for Environmental Information.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00007-1

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Original Submission

• Re:Every 300,000 years is "often" Re:Every 300,000 years is "often" (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @11:09PM (5 children)

  by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @11:09PM (#786097)

  No disagreement: what happens is that North Pole becomes South Pole, and penguins begin their epic 13,800 km migration.

  Parent

• Re:Every 300,000 years is "often" (Score: 2) by MostCynical on Sunday January 13 2019, @11:24PM

  by MostCynical (2589) on Sunday January 13 2019, @11:24PM (#786105) Journal

  DreamWorks no doubt already working on the screenplay

  --
  "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex

  Parent

• Re:Every 300,000 years is "often" (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @11:28PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @11:28PM (#786111)

  Here is a video of what will happen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dfWzp7rYR4 [youtube.com]

  Parent

• Re:Every 300,000 years is "often" Re:Every 300,000 years is "often" (Score: 2) by RandomFactor on Monday January 14 2019, @01:57AM (1 child)

  by RandomFactor (3682) on Monday January 14 2019, @01:57AM (#786214) Journal

  What is that in Ice Hockey rinks?

  --
  В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды

  Parent

  • Re:Every 300,000 years is "often" (Score: 3, Funny) by TheFool on Monday January 14 2019, @05:31AM

    by TheFool (7105) on Monday January 14 2019, @05:31AM (#786288)

    American or International rinks?

    Parent

• Re:Every 300,000 years is "often" (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @07:46PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @07:46PM (#786591)

  That's the day they go extinct. The North Pole has Polar Bears.

  Parent