The center of the land called the North Pole is now far away from the marked area on Earth’s map, and experts warn it is continuing to drift at an unprecedented rate.
The British Geological Survey (BGS) and the US National Center for Environmental Information have just released the latest update to the World Magnetic Model , showing the magnetic North Pole, which is believed to be the central point. of the arctic land and a landmark for the navigation systems of governments, the military, the aviation… and personal navigation devices such as your phone, have drifted away from their traditional locations. .
Earlier this year, the BGS and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had to update this magnetic model, but since then, the North Pole has continued to drift a long way.
New World Magnetic Model, with the Northern Hemisphere to the right. The dots with those five colors reflect the North Pole, in which the North Pole in 1900 was very far from the North Pole today – Photo: BGS
Accordingly, calling the snow-covered land of Northern Canada the “Arctic” like the 20th century is no longer accurate. From the end of the 20th century to the beginning of the 21st century, the central northernmost point left the coast of Canada. In 2020, the “Arctic” is really… the cold waters in the middle of the Arctic Ocean , and maybe in the not too distant future, the Arctic will be the land on the other side – Siberia of Russia.
It is estimated that this magnetic pole has quietly moved away from its old position hundreds of kilometers, at a frighteningly fast current speed: 50km/year. This also means that the North Pole has long moved away from the prime meridian passing through the British Observatory Greenwich, causing many maps and positioning models to be seriously skewed.
“Drift” map of the North Pole – (photo: BGS).
According to scientists, this is the fastest shift recorded in the Northern Hemisphere of the earth since the mid-16th century, and it is devastating for navigation systems around the globe.
The cause is mainly thought to be due to the movement of liquid flows deep in the planet’s core. However, tracking the movement of this current is very difficult, because it lies up to 3,000 km deep. Earth’s South Pole moves less, possibly because deep currents in that area are more stable.
The Northern Lights are increasingly faint when observed from Canada, because that land is no longer the North Pole – (photo: SHUTTERSTOCK).
This suggests that it is possible that Earth is about to undergo a reversal: the North Pole to the South Pole, and vice versa. In today’s context, this reversal could cause major damage to power grids, telecommunications systems, satellites and spacecraft. Because when reversed, the earth’s magnetic field – the planet’s shield from solar storms – will weaken. Solar storms can be devastating to these systems.
The last Earth inversion occurred about 780,000 years ago, when on Earth many species of the genus roamed and built early tribes, but we modern Homo sapiens are a long way off. newly born. It is estimated that our planet has reversed hundreds of times throughout history, with the most “crazy” in the Cambrian period, reversing up to 26 times every million years, according to research by the Institute of Geophysics. Paris (France).