And it seems the earth's north magnetic pole is moving faster than anyone can account for:
(Note that the image is looking straight down at the Arctic.)
(Note: That update has been delayed because of the government shut down.)
We tend to forget that the planet we live on is a dynamic entity -- aside from the magnetic poles shifting, the continents are moving, islands are being formed in the oceans from volcanic activity, mountains are rising (and falling), and weather patterns are shifting.
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio. . . ."
Via Joe.My.God.
(Note that the image is looking straight down at the Arctic.)
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.
(Note: That update has been delayed because of the government shut down.)
We tend to forget that the planet we live on is a dynamic entity -- aside from the magnetic poles shifting, the continents are moving, islands are being formed in the oceans from volcanic activity, mountains are rising (and falling), and weather patterns are shifting.
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio. . . ."
Via Joe.My.God.
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