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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[...] At the heart of the matter, geologists believe, is a disturbance in the outer core of the Earth’s interior (2900km below the surface). This superheated pool of molten metal is what generates the magnetic field.
“If we look at our best numerical simulations of a magnetic field reversal, this is the type of pattern we see right before a reversal,” says Professor Tarduno. “We don’t know if the current (anomaly) will lead to a full reversal.”
If the anomaly continues to grow, a larger patch of near-orbit and our planet will become increasingly exposed to harmful rays and solar storms.
The last time Earth’s magnetic poles reversed was some 780,000 years ago.
South Atlantic Anomaly: Study reveals magnetic pole ‘wobble’ has been growing for 1000 years
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Sunday January 13 2019, @03:07PM (10 children)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @03:26PM (1 child)
I recall seeing something similar. The geologic record showing that the poles swap with some previously consistent frequency every X centuries or so. But if I’m remembering correctly, we were something like 400 years overdue for a swap today.
(Score: 3, Informative) by HiThere on Sunday January 13 2019, @06:03PM
The timing isn't all that consistent or regular. There's an average, but there's a lot of variation. There's also a lot of variation in how rapidly they flip, but that's even more difficult to pin down.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Sunday January 13 2019, @06:06PM (7 children)
As I recall we also have an additional pole forming in the Indian Ocean, along with several other anomalies suggesting that the Earth's magnetic field is on the verge of collapsing into a chaotic mess as the poles prepare to flip. At least by geological timescales anyway - we might remain on the verge for millenia before it happens.
Might be a good time to stock up on sunscreen - when the magnetosphere collapses, the ozone layer will likely be stripped way down by the solar wind in short order.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @08:29PM (1 child)
Until recently sunscreen selectively blocked only the wavelengths that caused sunburn, but not skin cancer. Since people's bodies werent able to warn them they were getting dangerous amounts of exposure, people got too much sun with too little tan. So skin cancer rates have skyrocketed. It is almost exactly like the obesity epidemic caused by advocating low-fat (ie, high carb) diets. So watch out.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20541680 [nih.gov]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @07:44AM
citation required
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Sunday January 13 2019, @09:12PM (4 children)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday January 14 2019, @01:02AM (1 child)
It varies as the sine of the latitude, IIRC. So sin(66).
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 3, Interesting) by FatPhil on Monday January 14 2019, @09:19AM
Which raises an interesting question - has the aurora record changed significantly, and does it corroborate the magnetometers' readings?
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday January 14 2019, @02:08AM (1 child)
Does Isla Santa Cruz @ 0.64 degrees South count?
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Monday January 14 2019, @09:09AM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 3, Funny) by inertnet on Sunday January 13 2019, @04:58PM (2 children)
They're stealing the north pole!
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @06:04AM (1 child)
All part of the lefts' plot to end Christmas!
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday January 14 2019, @06:40PM
They can have that weird Santa guy. "Santa Claus: Kindly old elf or CIA Spook?" https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2009/01/29/ [gocomics.com] May as well fix that: "Santa Claus: Kindly old elf or
CIA SpookGoogle?Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 4, Funny) by requerdanos on Sunday January 13 2019, @06:18PM (3 children)
So they are asking, essentially, "Giant magnets, how do they work?"
It's to do with the alignment of atoms and their collective positive and negative charges pointing in a particular direction relative to the collection.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @10:13PM (1 child)
No, that's not what they're asking.
What they're asking has to do with the collective alignment and movement of all the atoms in the Earth's iron core. If you have the answer to that question, do share!
(Score: 2) by requerdanos on Sunday January 13 2019, @11:02PM
You might not hear the answer for the loud whooshing sound above you.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Monday January 14 2019, @02:12AM
Yeah, a collection of ~10^49 iron atoms, mostly...
Stick that in your 163 Q-bit quantum computer and smoke it for awhile...
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 3, Informative) by MostCynical on Sunday January 13 2019, @07:20PM (6 children)
Every300,000 years [nasa.gov] or so.
There is some disagreement about what happens [phys.org] after [livescience.com] it flips [news.com.au]
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @11:09PM (5 children)
No disagreement: what happens is that North Pole becomes South Pole, and penguins begin their epic 13,800 km migration.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Sunday January 13 2019, @11:24PM
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
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @11:28PM
Here is a video of what will happen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dfWzp7rYR4 [youtube.com]
(Score: 2) by RandomFactor on Monday January 14 2019, @01:57AM (1 child)
What is that in Ice Hockey rinks?
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 3, Funny) by TheFool on Monday January 14 2019, @05:31AM
American or International rinks?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @07:46PM
That's the day they go extinct. The North Pole has Polar Bears.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @01:45AM (1 child)
Warming
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @03:07AM
People
(Score: 2) by Username on Monday January 14 2019, @12:40PM (1 child)
People haven't used a map and compass since the 90s when GPS became status quo. I'm getting real sick of fake news, and this end is nigh bullshit.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @04:32PM
Even with GPS, in many cases navigation is still based on compass bearings (i.e., headings are expressed relative to magnetic north).
For example, all the headings indicated on airport charts are compass headings. Runways are numbered based on their orientation relative to compass directions. As magnetic north moves, from time to time all the runways at an airport will have to be renumbered (including new paint jobs) and all the charts updated to indicate new headings.
However, I would not expect any significant navigational problems as long as compasses still work. There are already processes in place to deal with magnetic north moving around. The news here is simply that things need updating earlier than previously expected.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @02:56PM
Thank God we got GPS up and running before this mess happened!