Ever-moving magnetic north

In the mid 1900s, the north magnetic pole position change was lumbering along at less than a hundred feet each day, adding up to less than seven miles of difference each year. But in the ’90s, this started to change. By the early aughts, magnetic north was chugging along at some 34 miles each year (492 feet/day).

Magnetic north has never sat still. In the last hundred years or so, the direction in which our compasses steadfastly point has lumbered ever northward, driven by Earth’s churning liquid outer core some 1,800 miles beneath the surface. Magnetic north is susceptible to the surges and flows in the swirl of liquid iron in the core. Yet in recent years, scientists noticed something unusual: Magnetic north’s routine plod has shifted into high gear, sending it galloping across the Northern Hemisphere—and no one can entirely explain why.

Magnetic north, first located in 1831 in the scattered islands of Canada’s Nunavut territory, has largely marched north, traversing hundreds of miles over the last several decades. Curiously, its polar opposite, magnetic south, has moved little during this time.

Scientists estimate that out of the million or so of submarine (underwater) volcanoes that can be found around the world, many thousands of them are active. Because of their location underwater, it can be hard to catch a submarine volcano in the eruption process — so no news media coverage.

The mix of data on movement of liquid iron under the Arctic, but not under Antarctica, coupled with significant undersea volcanic activity and melting/collapsing of the northern glaciers, but not the southern ones, (not from warm air above but significant heat sources below) at a much accelerated rate leads me to think that “Climate Change” has the wrong cause (man-made Carbon Dioxide) associated with it.

Barry Braman

Lancaster