North Pole a sub tropical sea.

Avatar4321 said:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...0907/sc_afp/climate_polar_europe_040907171514

Apparently thats whats in store for it again in a few tens of thousands of years if global warming is at all true. Man i think im going to invest in some land in siberia and northern canada. its going to be worth money someday.

Actually, the Earth's Magnetic North Pole (which is near the actual North Pole)has changed location many times over the past several million years as well. Scientists have reached this conclusion based on the magnetic orientation of ancient rockbeds.

Currently, the Earth's magnetic field is slowly weakening, which is a sign that the Earth's magnetic field may, once again be in the process of changing location.

When the Earth's magnetic field collapses, the surface of the Earth is subjected to much more radiation, which may account for mutations and helps to create new species of life.
 
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KarlMarx said:
Actually, the Earth's Magnetic North Pole (which is near the actual North Pole)has changed location many times over the past several million years as well. Scientists have reached this conclusion based on the magnetic orientation of ancient rockbeds.

Currently, the Earth's magnetic field is slowly weakening, which is a sign that the Earth's magnetic field may, once again be in the process of changing location.

When the Earth's magnetic field collapses, the surface of the Earth is subjected to much more radiation, which may account for mutations and helps to create new species of life.


Interesting...how long does it take for a magnetic field to change locations? when it does, does the earth tilt in that direct so that they will once again be north etc?
 
Avatar4321 said:
Interesting...how long does it take for a magnetic field to change locations? when it does, does the earth tilt in that direct so that they will once again be north etc?

I may have been wrong...the magnetic pole sometimes reverses (a process which takes up to 500,000 years),

http://uk.encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761576907/Magnetic_Pole.html

and it also constantly wandering.....

http://www.arctic.uoguelph.ca/cpe/environments/land/magpole/magpole.htm

And no, the Earth does not, to my knowledge, change its tilt to accomodate the new position of Magnetic North Pole.

Keep in mind that the Magnetic North Pole is NOT the same as the North Pole, the two are quite different. The Magnetic North Pole/South Pole are points on the Earth where the Earth's Magnetic Field begins and terminates. Whereas, the North and South Poles are the points on the Earth that define its axis of rotation.

For this reason, aviators have a term called "magnetic variation", the difference in position between "true North" (i.e. where the North Pole is) and "magnetic North (i.e. where the Magnetic North Pole is).
 
It is easy to track the movement of the earth's magnetic field simply by referencing old aviation navigational charts. Each chart has isogonic lines plotted on it. Isogonic lines are lines connecting points of equal magnetic variation, much like contour lines connect points of equal elevation on a topographic map. Magnetic variation is the difference between true north (the geographic pole) and mangnetic north (the magnetic pole).

I live in an area of only minor magnetic variation. Twenty years ago, the agonic line (zero magnetic variation) used to pass directly over a non-directional beacon in our area. Now that line is approximately 170 miles to the west.

But don't worry about that. The shift amounts to only about one tenth of one degree per year.
 

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