It should be finished shifting by Dec 2012.

Great....

Well that's not good.

this doesn't make sense to me. I mean, I understand it, but if magnetic north shifted west into russia, wouldn't compasses point 10 degrees towards the west instead of east?

*nature

Adding video to channels (Nature) - requested by ant.

>> ^Shepppard:

this doesn't make sense to me. I mean, I understand it, but if magnetic north shifted west into russia, wouldn't compasses point 10 degrees towards the west instead of east?


Hey, I made a video about why that is. And here is the reference material I used. In hindsight, it isn't the roundness that has anything to do with it, but I didn't really plan out what I was saying...the camera is a scary thing.

The nerd and all of that type of nerdiness was stupid (mostly the on air--"Must Be A Morning Show™"--flirting). The rest was OK. Old news, but OK.

I fail to see why this is exciting. The magnetic north pole has always been off and always been moving (albeit slowly in the range of a few kilometers per year). My old school atlas from 1988 puts it in the Canadian arctic, in the Parry islands (roughly 100 degrees west, 75 degrees north).

Worse than the drift in the north pole are local disturbances in the forc^H^H^H^H magnetic fields, causing compasses to point over 30 degrees away from true north. If you're dependent on a magnetic compass for navigating, chances are you also have an up-to-date map catalogueing the local deviations.

Most aircraft have gyros for these reasons. Alternatively, you can always magnetize the aircraft and place it in a calm body of water. It will always point true north.

>> ^srd:

I fail to see why this is exciting. The magnetic north pole has always been off and always been moving (albeit slowly in the range of a few kilometers per year). My old school atlas from 1988 puts it in the Canadian arctic, in the Parry islands (roughly 100 degrees west, 75 degrees north).
Worse than the drift in the north pole are local disturbances in the forc^H^H^H^H magnetic fields, causing compasses to point over 30 degrees away from true north. If you're dependent on a magnetic compass for navigating, chances are you also have an up-to-date map catalogueing the local deviations.
Most aircraft have gyros for these reasons. Alternatively, you can always magnetize the aircraft and place it in a calm body of water. It will always point true north.


The reason it is slightly more exciting/crazy is because the rate of change is accelerating... drastically. From 1970, it has changed from 9 km/year to 41 km/year, to what it is now, nearly 64km a year. The acceleration might just be par for course, but it could also hint at a pole change. Really, we just don't know, and like all things, change scares us to death.

Back in the mid-90s, I remember reading about historical evidence that geological poles shifted tens of thousands of years ago, and would do so again...

<wait for it>


by Dec. 21, 2012.

In Soviet Russia, North Pole points to you!

>> ^Trancecoach:

Back in the mid-90s, I remember reading about historical evidence that geological poles shifted tens of thousands of years ago, and would do so again...
<wait for it>

by Dec. 21, 2012.


http://inception.davepedu.com/

Maybe it's time to dump the compasses and rely on GPS?

I would love to experience a pole shift, imagine being able to the northern lights from your own home.