The North Magnetic Pole, what is it?
Discover our latest podcast
The North Magnetic Pole is the point at which the planet's magnetic field points vertically downwards. It is this magnetic point that draws the compass needle, pointing north. Measured very precisely since 1831, the North Magnetic Pole was located in northern Arctic Canada. But this point is moving. It has always tended to drift at about a few kilometres every year. From 9 km/year in the mid 1990s it picked up speed to 55 km/year in 2001.
The ballad of the magnetic north pole
The North Magnetic Pole was in northern Canada. But it was announced In 2001, the pole had shifted and entered the Arctic Ocean, and is now headed for Siberia, bringing the North Magnetic Pole closer to the Geographic North Pole.
How to explain this phenomenon?
Scientists can’t seem precisely to explain this acceleration of displacement. One hypothesis seems more believable than others though. The ferrous core of the earth is moving. In 2016, there were strong movements of molten iron in the Earth's core beneath Canada.
The flux in the core could have had strong consequences on the strength of the magnetic field. Waning the strength in Canada, but the magnetic field remained stable in Siberia, thus attracting the pole towards it.
What are the consequences?
The moving pole had no great consequence when traveling 10 to15 kilometers a year. That’s not the case with the current speed. The North magnetic pole is heavily used by navigation tools (maritime and air in particular).
And at this speed, we exceed the acceptable limit of margins of error. This is why the World Magnetic Model needs to be updated more regularly. And this requires manufacturers, providing navigation tools to update their maps regularly.
Check out the video above for more...
