What with GPS and satellites which use quasars and ICRF to locate themselves why do we need to know the location of the magnetic north pole?
And why would we need to repaint runway identifications? I mean pilots need to know which runway they've been cleared to use, but whether the numerical name of the runway is exactly or closely related to its magnetic direction is hardly of importance. Note: wind direction, where important, could be given as runway offset -- "wind 2 o'clock."
I'm puzzled.
14
Thank goodness for an interesting article that includes a discussion of science. So different from the nonsense generated by our current "administration". I enjoyed reading about what's happening with the magnetic North Pole. I was unaware that it had such wanderlust.
35
If the planet is wobbling and always has been, I’m grateful geological scientists, astronomers and other leaders in the scientific community are on top of the nerdy changes.
Airplanes, Military and satellites aside, amateur astronomers depend upon these maps and correction data; they add to science more than given credit.
iPhones and GPS like other, satellite-dependent equipment require the satellites in the corrected orbits. The tilt of the planet towards or away from the sun affects the seasons which affects farmers and ranchers. The polar ice melting (already affected by climate change) affects sea levels.
The work of these scientists matters more than some of the comments here reflect, however, I know scientists appreciate a sense of humor as much as we do.
All in all congrats and thanks to the authors of the article - looking forward to more.
30
Not a top ten problem (so claims Dr. Olson at the end of the article)? Could we see the top ten list? I may not be losing too much sleep at the shifting magnetic pole, but certainly the top five have my attention!
27
There are two variables that were not discussed in explaining the shifting North Pole - the galaxy(gravity) and Solar flares. We are part of the galaxy that is being pulled apart due to gravity and I would not be surprised that it plays a role on magnetic fields. Similarly solar flares, frequency of which has increased in the last 100 years, clearly affect magnetic fields.
5
"On multiple occasions during Earth’s long history, the magnetic field has weakened dramatically. The north magnetic pole slipped toward the bottom of the planet, and the south magnetic sauntered toward the top. The process took a few thousand years, but by the time the field’s full strength returns, it has flipped."
Hmm, is the South of the planet its bottom, the North its top?
5
The plot is becoming very clear...from his abode underneath a volcano...Dr. Evil is working with mad scientists to reverse the poles...throwing the world into chaos...unless he receives...one BILLION dollars!
12
I wonder about poor Santa Claus Like Climate Change, simply a matter of belief.
Fascinating review of the earth's magnetic field(s) and the peregrinations thereof. Thanks.
15
Amazing how little we understand about our planet, especially with all the claims of settle science these days.
7
Great piece to read. Further reading and self homework to the reader. A quite contrast to State of the Union Address which the intelligent electorate will predict a speech excludes climate change. This piece requires rigorous reading and thinking. For the folks who reads this piece, high five.Thermodynamics 101 states that entropy increases in the Universe. It means increase randomness, chaos, unpredictability, statistical probability of particle position and equilibrium. Quantum physics. A quite contrast to a neat teleological Universe. Sounds heretic. This Earth's magnetic pole apparent erratic behavior proves the laws of thermodynamics. Further, this wandering magnetic field warps space-time affecting your GPS. But take comfort. Einstein's General Theory of Relativity of space-time predicts and corrects the warp. Android and iPhone GPS works just fine.
9
In the modern age of satellites and computers, why are we still navigating with magnetic compasses? Why must airport runways be recalibrated? Why not just designate them by true geographic heading, and navigate by satellite-based GPS?
2
@Stephen Chernicoff - Commercial airlines navigate by Radio and GPS but if there's a failure in any system a compass is a very reliable instrument. If all else fails you can land by compass heading.
43
If you're tired of the magnetic field moving around without any concern for humans, you can always move to Mars. Mars has no magnetic field. Of course, there are a few practical problems with this idea, but I'm sure they're just details.
26
Great. Now I have to throw away all of my compasses and buy new ones.
38
@Justin: Thanks for your wonderful IRONy...
21
It should be noted that aviation navigational maps (sectionals) always depict the magnetic variance from true north. These are published on a 28 day cycle.
26
Add this to the growing list of 'problems' facing our planet - then read the growing list of recommendations, causes, fixes being spewed from the mouths of those of us who don't understand it at all. Then one must play the blame game. Thank God for the scientists that expert politicians scoff at.
15
@Pauline Hartwig
“expert politicians”?
5
A better, more physical definition of the geographic North Pole than saying it’s where all the longitudinal lines converge - which then brings up the question as to why these imaginary lines are drawn to converge at this point in the North in the first place - is that it’s the point where the axis of the Earth - the imaginary line around which the Earth rotates - cuts through so that when seen from on top of that point, the Earth rotates anti-clockwise. (The South geographical pole is the other point where the axis emerges but looking from on top of that point, the Earth rotates clock-wise)
40
More relevant reading for the curious!
https://www.wired.com/story/airports-rename-runways-magnetic-shift/
"... the FAA, which obsesses over safety, doesn’t much like “probably,” and any confusion can lead to potential safety hazards. You might throw off pilots who use the runway alignment as a way to verify the accuracy of their magnetic heading indicator before takeoff, says Doug Moss, a commercial pilot and aviation consultant."
https://www.explainthatstuff.com/how-compasses-work.html
"That's all there is to a compass: the red pointer in a compass (or the magnetized needle on your home-made compass) is a magnet and it's being attracted by Earth's own magnetism (sometimes called the geomagnetic field—"geo" simply means Earth). As English scientist William Gilbert explained about 400 years ago, Earth behaves like a giant bar magnet with one pole up in the Arctic (near the north pole) and another pole down in Antarctica (near the south pole). Now if the needle in your compass is pointing north, that means it's being attracted (pulled toward) something near Earth's north pole. Since unlike poles attract, the thing your compass is being attracted to must be a magnetic south pole. In other words, the thing we call Earth's magnetic north pole is actually the south pole of the magnet inside Earth. That's quite a confusing idea, but it'll make sense if you always remember that unlike poles attract."
1
@Heather,
You sure it's not the South pole of your compass's indicating arm that's aligning with the Earth's North?
"North" and "South" are arbitrary designations arbitrarily assigned oh so very long ago.
6
Does it have any effects on weather, such as the hints in polar winds?
2
A couple items of note from geological and biological standpoints are (1) The poles switch from time to time, where the North pole becomes the South pole and vice versa and the last switch is long overdue by ~100,000 years. As the mechanism(s) for the generation of a planetary magnetic field are not well understood it is not possible to predict when the next will occur, though geological records suggest the north-to-south pole transition can be completed within a human lifetime. (2) The magnetic field deflects cosmic radiation from the earth surface and this is critically important from a biological standpoint as radiation can cause genetic mutations, such as cancer. A weakening planetary magnetic field is, therefore, of large importance to life on this planet. Accelerated movement of the magnetic poles may suggest other changes are coming.
50
"A changing magnetic pole will require repainting the headings on airport runways." Could somebody verify this? I've worked with Navigational Databases for decades and I never heard of changing the runway heading numbers based on Magnetic Variation. You could not change the paint on the runways without changing the Navigational Databases also, which, from experience, leads me believe the statement is incorrect.
4
@DILLON Surely the headings painted on the ends of airport runways are true bearings to the geographic north — they will not change and in any event are rounded to
The nearest ten degrees. No problem here.
@A geographer No - for some reason, perhaps practices from long ago, runway designations are magnetic.
2
@A geographer
They are magnetic headings, and changed when necessary. As the compasses in aircraft are magnetic, the runway headings are marked to align with cockpit indicators.
https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/150_5340_1l.pdf
3
National Geographic has a more detailed article that explains why climate change may be a big factor in the magnetic shift.
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/160408-climate-change-shifts-earth-poles-water-loss/
"Adhikari and his colleague and co-author Erik Ivins think the rotational pole is shifting toward Europe because there has been a massive loss of water from lakes and aquifers in Eurasia, around the Caspian Sea, and in India. Warmer temperatures overall have led to more evaporation and less precipitation in many areas, and booming human populations have been sucking up groundwater from reservoirs and wells (watch Saudi Arabia get drained dry).
"What we have shown is that melting ice and a pattern of continental water storage are combining to cause a dramatic shift in the direction of the pole," says Adhikari."
13
@Heather oh, please....
4
@Heather
What about fracking?
1
Santa Claus and his elves are trying to hide from satellite detection.
24
Maybe they should consult Edgar Cayce writings at Virginia Beach, VA
1
Maybe all-powerful Putin and his cronies in Russia are behind this formidable shift too. Aside from not mentioning the possibility of this cabale, good article.
Since you include map of the trajectory since the end of the 16th century, more historical background would have made it even more interesting. I think Columbus noticed--if not discovered- that there was magnetic variation in his voyages to the New World.
7
@tdb
Is that why Columbus ended up in America instead of the Indies? ;)
Your Russia comment sounds like a James Bond movie.
1
@MidWest
It is ironic.
1
Who first realized that the magnetic pole does not coincide with the geographic pole? Christopher Columbus, on his first voyage across the Atlantic. In an era where he is often blamed for colonial abuses after his time, he should be given credit for an important scientific discovery.
7
@Charlesbalpha: His whole series of journeys were important scientific discoveries in themselves.
1
@Charlesbalpha Except Columbus didn't. William Gilbert did.
4
Less CO2 would help
1
Uh, too much carbon dioxide in the core causing magma warming?
2
The absolute certainty that these scientist use to claim that a polar shift is certifiably NOT happening is well... unscientific.
@Im Where in the article is a scientist quoted as saying they feel "absolute certainty" in their prediction? If anything the article highlights the uncertainty in the models. We certainly don't understand the details of how Earth's liquid iron core generates the planet's magnetic field.
11
Any chance the nuclear bombs in Japan in 1945 during WWII, the Chernobyl disaster 1986 and most recently the meltdowns in Japan in 2012 accelerating the changes?
@Brian: No. How?
3
Why not agree that all runways worldwide will be designated based on their geographical, rather than magnetic heading? The changing magnetic declination gets charted periodically anyway; no more need to re-designated every runway (and reprint every instrument approach plate and airport diagram as well) whenever the magnetic pole shifts.
2
@jan
Because the instruments on board use the magnetic pole. If the runway is pointed due north, its label should agree with what the onboard compass recognizes as due north.
10
Planes are not equipped with tall enough periscopes to verify true north by looking for the shaft coming out of geographic true north. This they depend on a little magnet that aligns with the fickle field of magnetic fate. Probably re- painting and printing is cheaper than pericopes.
6
In the 1970's, (my) university Earth Science class taught that, in association with plate tectonics, spreading pairs of molten magnetic ores that hardened in place, set on the ocean bottom and increasing equally in distance away from opposite sides of trenches and therefore away from each other, indicated by the rate of spread a cyclical reversal of the magnetic poles roughly every 20K years. If that knowledge base is still considered valid, then it is reasonably predictable when the next flip will be since we know when the last one was.
2
Fascinating, for the marginally informed. Some questions. 1. Are there resources available to continuously monitor magnetic North? If so, GPS and other magnetic tracking devices can use 'autocorrect' for navigation. The airport landing markers become place markers 2. Why does NMP move, but not South? I think of the earth's core as a noncompressible fluid. I expected to find a predictor interplanetary pole inversion. Instead the earth is acting like a wibble-wobble. 3. Does the magnetic movement have any effect on the party's declention, v. the sun?
@Random1 ive tried to keep a log using an elementary school grade magnetometer and laptop, but the sensitivity isn't adequate. You know more than the average person considering the noncompressible fluid comment, and are likely Hapgoodian in outlook...as am I.
1
@Random1
Regarding Q 2; My guess is that the iron core is more stable in the southern hemisphere. We're probably not talking about perfect spheres--in fact, they do mention in the article the theory that there is a Siberian mass and a Canadian mass in the north.
2
@Random1 - Just an FYI: modern airliners use a combination of navigational inputs to determine position, the most accurate of which is inertial navigation, that when properly aligned before the aircraft moves, uses the exact center of the earth as a reference point.
The other inputs are ground based radio nav-aids, GPS...and lastly the good old whiskey compass when everything else goes south (pun intended).
Furthermore once above a certain altitude (18,000 as I recall), everyone uses "true" north rather than mag north to orient themselves, and they also change their altimeter system to a std setting so that at the flight levels...everyone is oriented via true north and everyone is flying at an accurate altitude that all other airplanes (above 18,000 feet in controlled airspace) are using.
Tends to avoid bad things happening.
2
Could this be effecting the migration of butterflies and birds in addition to climate change?
27
@Missy yes. Might include bee colony survival as well ;)
2
No, but it does have a small but indistinguishable effect on how birds find their direction.
@Full Name (required) Even if small that could make a huge difference in migration patterns.
1
Terrific article, even if it does provide such a paucity of fodder for comments on Democratic conspiracy theories.
5
@Steve Hyde
Patience. Seeing the magnetic pole is moving towards Siberia, expect a report from Rachel Maddow any day now attributing this to another sneaky move by Putin with Trump's complicity.
9
@Steve Hyde
I understand that there are a lot of people who believe that Trumps's buffoonery is all a conscious act and that he is really a genius who merely gives the appearance of having no control of his own mouth. By their lights, the delay of the navigation corrections by the shutdown was part of his plan, but I'll be darned if I can come up with what he is up to. Still waiting for those tax returns.
16
Flight navigation relies on magnetic compasses in 2019? Magnetic headings are painted on runways and have to be repainted every few years at the cost of millions of dollars around the world?? Maybe I'm missing something, but why use magnetic compasses at all in the age of GPS? Is it a backup in case a plane loses contact with the GPS satellites?
1
@Jeff White
Yes, it is a simple and reliable backup.
But there are other issues. For one, not all planes have GPS. Two, GPS gives you position and interpolated track direction, but not heading.
16
Avionic computers have loadable databases of Magnetic Variations for every position on the globe. This variation, added to the compass reading, results in a true bearing.
3
@Anonymous
"GPS gives you position and interpolated track direction, but not heading."
Some GPS systems have the ability to display a heading based on pole or just based on the map. If the magnetic field disappeared, we'd have more to worry about than what our heading was.
The magnetic pole of the Earth that is close to the geographic north pole is actually a magnetic south pole, which is why the north pole of a compass needle points north.
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/magnetic/MagEarth.html
3
@Jack512: The labels North and South for a magnetic field are an arbitrary convention.
3
In a thousand years from now if and when the poles do shift I doubt many of us reading this article will be here to witness it.
Like Alfred E. Newman of Mad Magazine: "What Me Worry"!
Matt - Fl
3