magnet
The Earth’s Magnetic North Pole has literally shifted from Canada to Siberia (Russia). According to Dr. Chris Connor during a news excerpt from NBC, he said, “…it’s been moving, and now it’s moved all the way from northern Canada into northern Siberia.” What it interesting is that Dr. Connor didn’t say what most websites and news sources are saying. Most sources I’ve read say that the Magnetic Pole is “shift-ING” to Siberia. But Dr. Connor very clearly says “moved.” This means that the pole is already in Siberia. The reason why this is worth discussing is because an article written in 2003 on the NASA website regarding Magnetic Fields, said that at the current rate of Magnetic Pole shift in 2003, the pole would move from North America to Siberia in “a few decades.” Now, when I hear the words, one decade, I think of 10 years. And a couple decades would mean around 20 years. But when I hear “a few decades” I definitely think of a minimum of 20 years, more in the ballpark of 21 to 60 years. This means that in 7 years, the magnetic poles have shifted what NASA predicted what would happen in a much longer period of time.
When I saw the movie, 2012 that starred John Cusack, I thought the scene where all the magnetic poles were shifting was an interesting Science-Fiction plot device. I never thought that this would actually happen in my lifetime. Although the film was highly stylized, the mere fact that the rate of pole shift is increasing is disconcerting at best.
-Tyler
SOURCES:
NBC News (Big thank you to NBC for broadcasting this excellent short piece on an interesting and important issue)
NASA: Earth’s Inconstant Magnetic Field, published December 29th, 2003. http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2003/29dec_magneticfield/
FoxNews.com: Ordinary Compasses Thrown Off by Changes in Earth’s Magnetic Field, written by Loren Grush, published February 25th, 2011. http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/02/25/ordinary-compasses-thrown-changes-earths-magnetic-field/
Wikipedia: North Magnetic Pole, retrieved March 30th, 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Magnetic_Pole