The magnetic poles are moving towards Russia and scientists are confused

Compared to the geographical poles, the earth’s magnetic poles, which serve as the foundation for navigation, are in constant motion.

Apparently, the north magnetic pole has been slowly moving across the Canadian Arctic toward Russia since 1831. However, as of recent, its swift pace towards Siberia at a rate of around 34 miles per year has left scientists puzzled and forced them to update the World Magnetic Model – used by civilian navigation systems, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and US and British militaries a year ahead of schedule.

The World Magnetic Model 2020 forecasts that the pole will continue on its path to Russia, but now the speed is slowly decreasing to about 24.8 miles per year. Since its discovery in 1831, the pole has traveled 1,400 miles.

“We know from old ships’ logs that in the past 400 years, the north magnetic pole has hung around northern Canada. Until the 1900s, it moved perhaps tens of kilometers, back and forth,” Ciaran Beggan, a geophysicist at the British Geological Survey in Edinburgh, told the Guardian. 

“But in the past 50 years it started to move north, and in the past 30 years, it started to accelerate away. It went from moving at about five to 10km [ six miles] a year to 50 or 60km a year today. It’s now moving rapidly towards Siberia.”

Currently, the north magnetic pole is moving away from Canada and towards Siberia at a speed of roughly 50 kilometers a year. This rapid movement of the pole was redefined by the World Magnetic Model after concerns about how it might affect global navigation — especially at high latitudes.

Scientists have speculated that the changes causing this shift are due to the movement of liquid iron in the Earth’s core, climate change, or some combination of them.

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