It is one of the strangest shifts in the Earth’s magnetic field since Daleks plotted to extract the planet’s core in a 1964 Doctor Who adventure.
But this is not science fiction, it is science fact: Earth’s magnetic North Pole is drifting towards Russia, just as it has been since the early nineteenth century – but at a markedly slower rate.
Not to be confused with the geographic North Pole, which marks the world’s northernmost point, the magnetic North Pole is the direction towards which compass needles point.
Unlike its geographical counterpart, it is not a fixed location, but changes in response to magnetic activity beneath the Earth’s crust.
And in a development that has baffled scientists, this restless movement, caused by churning molten iron, has slowed to about 15 miles a year, according to the World Magnetic Model, which tracks the Earth’s magnetic poles.
That is less than half the rate recorded in the noughties, and almost 10 miles a year slower than in 2020, when the model was last updated.
‘The magnetic pole has been moving very slowly around Canada for many centuries since the 1500s,’ said Dr Ciarán Beggan of the British Geological Survey.
‘In the past 20 years, it accelerated north towards Siberia, increasing speed every year until about five years ago, when it suddenly decelerated from 50 to 40km per year.
Earth’s magnetic North Pole is drifting towards Russia, just as it has been since the early nineteenth century, but at a markedly slower rate
A graphic shows how the magnetic North Pole has fluctuated in relation to the geographical North Pole over time
A black line charts the shifting position of the magnetic North Pole between 1831, when it was first discovered by British naval commander Sir James Clark Ross, and 2000
Unlike its geographic counterpart, which is stationary, the magnetic North Pole moves. In the 2000s, it was shifting about 34 miles ever year – but that rate has since slowed
Scientists measure the intensity and the direction of the Earth’s magnetic field in the Canadian Arctic during a 2005 expedition to calculate the location of the North magnetic pole
‘This is behaviour we’ve not observed ever before. It makes forecasting magnetic field change more difficult.
‘In contrast, the south pole is moving very slowly. We don’t know really why there’s such differences between the hemispheres.’
While these shifts might seem remote from daily life, and typically go unnoticed, they affect us all to a greater or lesser degree.
Magnetic compasses are the cornerstone of modern navigation, directing aircraft, submarines and even the compasses on our smartphones.
Unseen shifts in the Earth’s magnetic field can also have a significant effect on drilling for oil and gas, or research into seismic activity.
Magnetic compasses are the cornerstone of modern navigation, directing aircraft, submarines and even the compasses on our smartphones.
Discovered in northern Canada in 1831 by Sir James Clark Ross, a British naval commander and Arctic explorer, the north magnetic pole has been wending its way towards Siberia ever since.
While Ross relied on a combination of magnetic needles and compass and chart readings to confirm his findings, modern techniques are rather more sophisticated.
The British Geological Survey, which developed the World Magnetic Model in collaboration with the US National Geophysical Data Centre, relies primarily on a constellation of European Space Agency satellites.
Professor Phil Livermore of the University of Leeds has postulated that fluctuations in the magnetic North Pole’s position are caused by the movement of a ‘jet stream’ of liquid iron in the Earth’s core.
Tracking that movement would enable scientists to forecast changes, but the process is complicated by the fact that the liquid iron lies deep beneath the Earth’s crust.
Time to bring in the Daleks, perhaps.
