Scientists have been forced to update GPS at a much faster rate than had previously been expected (normally every 5 years) and the NOAA wasn't expecting changes to be needed until 2020, but the magnetic North Pole has apparently been heading further away from the Canadian Arctic towards Siberia at an unprecedented rate of 55 kilometers per year.
The World Magnetic Model update was officially released on Monday, and magnetic north can again be precisely located for people around the world.
Some interesting data :
- Since 1831 when it was first measured in the Canadian Arctic it has moved about 1,400 miles toward Siberia. Its speed jumped from about 9 miles per year to 34 miles per year since 2000
- The magnetic south pole is moving far slower than the north.
- In general Earth's magnetic field is getting weaker, leading scientists to say that it will eventually flip, where north and south pole changes polarity, like a bar magnet flipping over. It has happened numerous times in Earth's past, but not in the last 780,000 years.
- The reason is turbulence in Earth's liquid outer core. There is a hot liquid ocean of iron and nickel in the planet's core where the motion generates an electric field
- The military uses the WMM for undersea and aircraft navigation, parachute deployment, and more.
- governmental organizations, such as NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Forest Service, and many more use this technology for surveying and mapping, satellite/antenna tracking, and air traffic management.
- Smartphone and consumer electronics companies also rely on the WMM to provide consumers with accurate compass apps, maps, and GPS services.
- Airport runways are perhaps the most visible example of a navigation aid updated to match shifts in Earth’s magnetic field. Airports around the country use the data to give runways numerical names, which pilots refer to on the ground.
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