Earth’s northern magnetic pole is moving rapidly towards Siberia, and this movement has forced scientists to update the World Magnetic Model at an earlier date.
The National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), announced the new World Magnetic Model.
#ICYMI NCEI has released an out-of-cycle World Magnetic Model due to changes in Earth’s magnetic field near the North Pole: @CIRESnews pic.twitter.com/H8KvtCqjrl
— NOAA NCEI Ocean Geo (@NOAANCEIocngeo) February 5, 2019
According to reports, the model, which is updated and released every five years, had to be changed before 2020 because Earth’s northern magnetic pole is shifting at a rate of 55 km per year, nearly four times faster that what it was 20 years ago.
While earth’s internal processes may be responsible behind this shift, it does have some serious consequences for our navigational systems.
It can affect many operations, including military undersea navigation, space missions, smartphone GPS services, and airport runways.
According to reports, this shift in earth’s magnetic poles could also change the navigational patterns of some birds and animals who use earth’s magnetic field for migration. And an overall weakening of the magnetic field isn’t good for satellites and astronauts.
Talking to the Daily Mail, Professor Richard Holme explained that the magnetic field shields earth from some dangerous radiation. He also said, “With this shift, overall exposure to cosmic radiation would double, causing more deaths from cancer.”
The magnetic south pole is moving far slower as compared to the north.
This is an indication that the Earth’s magnetic field is getting weaker and in some 1000 years, the north and south poles will change polarity flipping the earth’s magnetic field.
