Lost Horizon: Magnetic field reversal effects increasing

March 1, 2011  – The Earth’s magnetic field is changing at an increasing rate, throwing off airports and altering the aurora borealis — and its effect on ordinary compasses could mean the difference between homeward bound and hopelessly lost. Earth’s northernmost magnetic point — or magnetic north — is distinct from its geographic North Pole, and scientists have long known that the magnetic poles are on the move. But the magnetic poles have been moving faster lately, sliding towards Siberia at 34 miles per year at a speed that’s accelerated 36 percent over the last 10 years, according to the United States Geological Survey, or USGS. “At Washington D.C., the compass points 10 degrees to the west of true north,” Jeffrey Love, USGS advisor for geomagnetic research, told FoxNews.com. “And this is increasing at Washington at a rate of about 1/10 of a degree per year.” But don’t touch that calibration dial just yet: The accuracy of compasses fluctuates with the field, he said, meaning compasses are more or less accurate depending on where you use them. “It’s different at different places on the earth,” Love said. The magnetic shift is costing the aviation and marine industries millions of dollars to upgrade navigational systems and charts, Florida’s Sun Sentinel reported. –Fox News

  “Almost all tectonic movement can be linked to magnetic reversals. Seafloor spreading, sea level changes, mountain growth, earthquakes, and volcanism all seem to speed up whenever the frequency of reversals speeds up.”     –Peter Vogt, U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office

See: Magnetic Reversal Disruption