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North Magnetic Pole Moving East Due To Core Flux

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the looking-forward-to-2012 dept.

National Geographic is reporting that the migration of Earth's magnetic pole has accelerated again and is now racing in Russia's direction at a blazing 40 miles per year. This movement began in earnest around 1904 at about 9 miles per year and has been accelerating since. "Geologists think Earth has a magnetic field because the core is made up of a solid iron center surrounded by rapidly spinning liquid rock. This creates a 'dynamo' that drives our magnetic field. Scientists had long suspected that, since the molten core is constantly moving, changes in its magnetism might be affecting the surface location of magnetic north. Although the new research seems to back up this idea, Chulliat is not ready to say whether magnetic north will eventually cross into Russia. 'It's too difficult to forecast,' Chulliat said. Also, nobody knows when another change in the core might pop up elsewhere, sending magnetic north wandering in a new direction."

7 of 346 comments (clear)

  1. North Pole by SirLurksAlot · · Score: 5, Funny

    In Soviet Russia North Pole comes to YOU!

    --
    God, schmod. I want my monkey man!
  2. Global Warming by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yet another impact of "global warming". Heating the globe is melting the no-longer-solid iron center. Yikes.

  3. Re:This explains by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Funny

    This explains why paper notes I've left on my fridge with magnets keep sliding down. So in this conspiracy, the magnetic reversal is the blame of...

    I kinda expect that. But when they start sliding up is the time to panic.
         

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
  4. Re:The poles are flipping? by MickDownUnder · · Score: 5, Funny

    I said "millenia" not "millisecond"

  5. Moving to Russia from Canada by WoodenTable · · Score: 4, Funny

    As a Canadian, I feel there's only one rational response to the Russians taking our magnetic north pole (which is sort of owned by the whole of humanity and indeed the planet itself, but has been held in our trust for some time).

    All out nuclear war.

    And the only downside is nuclear winter! Winter! We can handle a few more months of that each year, easy. It's win-win, really!

    1. Re:Moving to Russia from Canada by selven · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yeah, I think summer falls on a Thursday this year.

  6. An Inconvenient Proof by ShakaUVM · · Score: 4, Funny

    That's 2.3 centimeters per second. Forget global warming, it's the Earth axis that's moving and screwing everything. On Christmas day, snow was fucking MELTING over here and we're way up north. Melting snow used to be for the beginning of march.

    Don't be ridiculous. We have humans now on the planet, AND the magnetic core is shifting. Coincidence? I think not.

    If we plot C02 emissions alongside the rate of change of the magnetic north pole, even a 5th grade could see they're correlated.

    Humans are to blame for magnetic drift.

    QED.