One of you asked this question. “Does a magnetic compass point to the North Pole?” The answer is … not exactly. True north is a fixed spot on Earth’s globe. You can imagine Earth spinning, once each day, around an imaginary stick. The North Pole is the spot on Earth’s globe that marks the northern end of that imaginary stick. Magnetic north is something else. It’s related to the magnetic field surrounding Earth. A compass points to magnetic north – which is often in northern Canada. At a recent science meeting, EarthSky caught up with Stefan Maus, who studies Earth’s magnetism at the University of Colorado. He told us that magnetic north is moving at a speed of 50 kilometers – about 30 miles – every year. He said that scientists nowadays use satellites to track the changes.
Stefan Maus: They’re equipped with very sensitive magnetometers that measure the direction and strength of magnetic field.
He said scientists incorporate the measurements into magnetic field models. Many people now use this information every day, he said, while searching for directions on cell phones and GPS units.
Stefan Maus: Another example is that cameras will have magnetic field sensors, because you will want to know later not only where you took that picture, but which direction you took the picture. So now you can integrate it in Google Earth.
He said that our world’s magnetic field might influence your life more in the years ahead, as more and more personal devices are equipped with compasses. Dr. Maus said scientists have to monitor Earth’s magnetic field closely – because the way it changes is unpredictable.
Stefan Maus: When we conduct such surveys over a long time, we can see how field changes globally and study what leads to changes.
He said that there are 3 new satellites that measure magnetic fields: Ørsted, SAC-C, and Magsat.
Stefan Maus: With the new generation of magnetic satellites, we can measure the magnetic fields much more accurately. That strongly benefits devices that use the magnetic field for orientation.
Once every five years Stefan Maus and his colleagues update the three commonly used models of Earth’s magnetic field — the International Geomagnetic Reference Field (IGRF), the World Magnetic Model (WMM) and the Enhanced Magnetic Model (EMM). Maus said all the models do the same thing. They input your location, and the model — like a high-tech compass — tells you the direction of to magnetic north.
Just listened to the show about magnetic north. I’d like to know, why is magnetic north located where it is? Why does it move?
Thanks.
Earth’s magnetic field is very important to our way of life. It shields the earth from cosmic radiation and from matter ejected from the sun. In the past, we have been hit with major blasts from the sun with ineresting and what would now be catastrophic results. In the late 1800′s the earth was hit by magnetic storms that set telegraph wires on fire. If we were to get hit with something like that now, it would wreak havoc. It would likely wreck unshielded computers like those in our cars and on our desks. Cell phones would go down and our elctric grids would collapse.
Another thing the earth’s magnetic field does for us is to shield the earth from ionizing radiation from the sun and other cosmic sources. Without it , life would be much different. In fact, many extinctions can be correlated to magnetic reversals. Periodically, the earth’s magnetic field reverses. There is a period of time where the field is at or near zero. and radiation is let in to the surface. These times also seem to correlate to massive volcanic upheavals.
We have a lot to learn. However, “north” is more important to humans than for just finding our way around.
A magnetic change is in the works but what if it is for 90 degrees instead of 180. In those terms, a reversal can be seen as a temporary inconvenience; a 90 change would be catastrophic aka the Triassic die off of 90% of all life.
Some people believe that, in 21-12-2012 earth will start to collide because of Nexus event, and the magnetic north will first move earth to the top of magnetic north. Then after we move to the south of the universe, the same force will push the Earth upwards. Sun will rise from West.
Probably because of the shift of magnetic north Canada to Russia, the “0″ point will be at North somewhere. But the fact is that, there will be no climates, (4 Seasons) if the same black hole force pushes Earth upwards.
26000 years ago, the same force caused our Earth to shift, somehow seasons later ocurred. Maybe the Ice melt, or other rumbling issues.
Do you think that, if that full reverse occurs to Earth, do we have possibility of having Sesons, or not? Probably no I think, maybe atmost 5 degrees or less, I believe…
Opinions?