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We know that Earth\u2019s magnetic North Pole doesn\u2019t quite line up with the North Pole on a world map \u2014 it\u2019s wandered, at a glacial pace, about 1,400 miles since its first discovery in 1831, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What scientists didn\u2019t expect, however, is that the magnetic North Pole has been wandering towards Siberia at an increasing pace, Science Alert reports. It even crossed the Greenwich meridian, the invisible line that determines time zones, for the first time in its recorded history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That could potentially wreak havoc on positioning systems, military operations, and other processes that rely on measuring the magnetic pole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The magnetic North Pole was found to be drifting toward Russia at about 34 miles per year, slowing recently to just 25. Despite the most recent slowdown, \u201cthe movement since the 1990s is much faster than at any time for at least four centuries,\u201d geomagnetic specialist Ciaran Beggan from the British Geological Survey (BGS) told the Financial Times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe really don\u2019t know much about the changes in the core that\u2019s driving it,\u201d Beggan added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last week, scientists revealed the new version of the World Magnetic Model, a representational model that helps navigation systems to align with geographic reality, released every five years. The last update was released in 2015, making this update slightly early \u2014 an intentional attempt to catch up with the ever-increasing pace of the magnetic north\u2019s movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fluctuations could be caused by jet stream-like flows of liquid iron inside the Earth\u2019s core, though scientists are only beginning to understand those dynamics. A January report published in Nature suggests it could have something to do with hydromagnetic waves from deep in the planet\u2019s core.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While it won\u2019t be the first reversal of Earth\u2019s magnetic field, experts predict such a reversal won\u2019t happen for hundreds to thousands of years, as FT reports \u2014 the last reversal occurred 780,000 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n