
The sudden shift of the magnetic North Pole, which is continuing to drift towards Russia has baffled scientists.
Scientists expressed concern that the abrupt change will take everything with it, including the accuracy of the navigational systems in our smartphones.
The magnetic North Pole now differs from that of the geographical North Pole, as the former is the point with which a compass needle comes on par. North Pole fluctuation is caused by magnetic activity underneath Earth’s crust, in contrast to its permanent geographical counterpart, according to the Express Tribune.
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North Pole shifting: Historical background
Since the 1800s, the magnetic North Pole has slowly been shifting towards Russia and the pace of this movement has fascinated scientists with its inherent unusualness.
As shown in World Magnetic Model, there is a significant shift in the pace of the magnetic North Pole, since it has slowed down to 15 miles per year in contrast to 10 miles in 2020.
Movement of the Poles has been slow around Canada since the 1500s, as pointed out by Dr Beggan from the British Geological Survey. In the past two decades the poles have accelerated towards Siberia, five years ago it was accelerating followed by another round of sudden deceleration, said Beggan.
The current speed of the poles' movement has reduced from 50 km per year to 40 km per year, it is a pattern that has never been noted before. Dr. Beggan highlighted that this unusual pattern makes predicting the magnetic field much more challenging.
The cause of this sharp drop in the speed behind hemispheric differences remains a mystery.