The magnetic pole is moving faster than at any time in human history, causing major problems for navigation and migratory wildlife. The magnetic north pole is currently shifting at a faster rate than at any time in human history — almost 40 miles a year — and some experts believe that it may be the beginning of a complete pole reversal, according to the Independent.
The changes are already beginning to cause major problems for aviation, navigation and migratory animals which use the Earth’s magnetic field to orient themselves. Some airports have even had to change the names of their runways to better correspond to their current direction relative to magnetic north. Ever since the magnetic north pole was first discovered in 1831, geologists have been tracking its progress. Unlike true north (which is marked by the Earth’s axis), magnetic north is constantly on the move due to changes in the planet’s molten core, which contains iron. Throughout most of recorded history, the pole has been positioned at or around Canada’s icy Ellesmere Island, but if it keeps moving at its current rate, it won’t be long before it sits above Russia instead.
The thing that really makes the pole’s current movement so unusual, however, is the speed that it is shifting. In the last decade alone, movement has increased by a third, throwing off compasses by roughly one degree every five years. Changes that fast have already caused major headaches for the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. Tampa International Airport in Florida has just spent a month renaming all of its runways, which are named after the degree at which they point on a compass. Similar changes were recently made to runways at Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach, and across the country runways now need to be renamed at least once every five years.
The shifting pole may also become a grave concern for migratory wildlife, such as birds, turtles and other sea creatures which use Earth’s magnetic field to navigate over great distances. It’s unclear how capable these animals are of recalibrating their navigational instincts to compensate for the changes.
The rapid shifting of the pole’s position has even prompted some experts to speculate that the Earth’s entire magnetic field may be preparing to “flip,” whereby all compasses completely invert and point south instead of north.
Man-Made Global Warming is causing this.
If the magnetic pole flips, will all our refrigerator magnets fly off?
GPS can be hacked(jammed) for as little as $30.
Are they putting clothes on Greek Gyros or she being prepp’d for the rotisserie?
8, Ubiquitous Talking Head,
Awww, another self-absorbed liberal “intellectual”? 🙂
I was kidding of course. Lighten up.
But if you want something to gnaw on, here’s a list of things allegedly caused by global warming: http://numberwatch.co.uk/warmlist.htm
This is not a new occurrence. The pole has been flipping roughly every 20,000 years. It was just a matter of time.
Guess what: acceleration is a concept that’s found in nature!
No, the compasses won’t start pointing south, the compasses are just magnets and will always point north. North will move to where south is now. We will have to rename north america to south america and vice versa.
What I want to know is, when we become the southern hemisphere will our toilets flush counter-clockwise?
Man-Made Global Warming is causing this.
Your simple-mindedness is boring
I’ve been reading a lot of political blogs. I think the blame for the pole shifting is the fault of George Bush, the Koch brothers, Geore Soros, global warming, or all of the above I’m some diabolical combination to bring in a one world goverment.
Excellent picture.
It’s a Canadian plot.
Not sure what for – but that’s why it’s such a good plot
Canadians? Why are you blaming us? If anything it’s the Russians trying to take our pole!
Please make that photo go away, it’s nearly lunch time and I do need to have an appetite!
#11 – of course if the poles flip then Canada will no longer be North of America it will be South.
So suddenly we get nice beaches, better soccer players and an outbreak of young ladies with carefully maintained lower topiary.
Mark my words, it’s all Australia’s doing. One too many “down under” jokes I suspect.
Oh but it is human intervention. It’s one of the side benefits of HAARP. Dontcha know?
Who cares? Maps already have a notation telling you the offset for magnetic north. Just use newer maps and you will be fine. The world is not ending and we are not going to have chaos.
I think it’s one of 3 possibilities. Since one of those has already been talked about, the remaining 2 are:
1. The earthquake machine, otherwise known as HAARP.
2. The aliens that brought down WTC7.
#17 Guyver
Thanks for the simple-minded link to the simple-minded web page!
How do you find these web pages, anyway? I mean, that page is so gripping, I found myself near hypnotized and unable to tear myself away, due to the utter lightness of the thing.
21, Forces,
You too?!?!?! I thought I was the only one to have found myself nearly hypnotized.
The picture and the subject together is high level humor. ROFL
1. So what does happen to the migratory animals on a pole flip? Population collapse I would think every x 1000 of years and it should be well represented in the fossil record all to the point: how can there be migratory animals?
2. The better analogy might be that man is causing the pole flip thru its manufacturing/mining activities and all these must stop in order to prevent the flip from occurring and/or we must return the stolen metals to their original locations.
3. guyver = our discussing ended last time by you not answering: “What proof would you accept as AGW in fact occurring.” You’ve had time to work on your answer.
The danger of having the magnetic poles flip is that we may not have a significant magnetic field at all for several years, allowing solar radiation to bombard the planet.
#24
Reading is not comprehension, so try again.
#26–Guyver==what did I miss? Don’t be coy, say it right out loud.
but I also wonder about the lack of magnetic shielding==not that it goes away as it just is shifting all the time to like the equator or some such I imagine which is still a shield with the Aurora Borealis appearing over Miami for a few years. That doesn’t bother me unless we need the poles near the axis in order to have protection and again isn’t “the evidence” that the poles don’t flip because there have been no massive die offs due to radiation or lack of migration?
How does the record in the ocean floor spreading mesh with the biological record to the contrary?
Kinda interesting. The explanation must be well understood–I’ve just never seen it.
There is excellent magnetic reversal data for the last 100million years or so. There haven’t been any major die offs in that time – other than meteor vs dinosaur.
So the conclusion is that magnetic reversals don’t lead to die offs. Either the overall field stays high enough to preserve some shielding or the increased radiation isn’t that dangerous.
However the majority of (non marine) animals that have been around for most of the last 100MYr haven’t been that long lived. Perhaps increased cosmic rays aren’t a big deal for a shrew that lives for 3-4 years but might be bad news for a sun loving ape that lives for 80.
What!!!! nobody blaming Bush or Obama? What is this blog coming to?
#20 Pedrito, u should fill your mule with scrap metal and quickly run the opposite way and save the world.
I don’t think there is a damn thing we can do about migrating animals getting lost. Unless we teach them to navigate by the stars, or read maps. This is the way it has always been.
For me, the sash really makes the dress.
Without it, she might end up looking plump or something.
well if the poles are gonna flip then charlie sheen must be our early warning system for this, ’cause he certainly has.. 😛