For more than 150 years after Ross's measurement its movement was gradual, generally less than 15 kilometers per year. But then, in the 1990s, it picked up speed in a big way, bolting north–northwest into the Arctic Ocean at more than 55 kilometers per year. If it keeps going it could pass the geographic north pole in a decade or so and carry on toward Siberia. But why?
One compelling explanation appears in the December 21 Eos, the weekly transactions of the American Geophysical Union. In their Eos article (subscription required), and in a longer paper published earlier in 2010 in the Journal of Geophysical Research–Solid Earth, Arnaud Chulliat of the Institute of Earth Physics of Paris and his colleagues venture that a twisting molten plume beneath the Artic could be the cause:
SNIP.....
"What happened under the New Siberian Islands at the core surface is that the rate of change of the magnetic field changed by a large amount during the 1990s," Chulliat says. That activity, he and his colleagues have found, could account for a large portion of the NMP's acceleration. But whether magnetic field changes under the New Siberian Islands and the speeding north magnetic pole ultimately arise from a twisted plume of fluid rising through the core remains unproved, Chulliat and his co-authors note. A resolution of the mystery will await better modeling, along with more data from satellites monitoring the Arctic's magnetic environment. The necessity of satellites, interestingly enough, is a consequence of the pole's recent movement—as the NMP drifts farther out to sea, it becomes harder and harder to reach the region with magnetometer-equipped aircraft.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=why-is-the-north-magnetic-pole-raci-2010-12-24ALSO:
Magnetic North Pole Shifts, Forces Runway Closures at Florida Airport
The planet's northern magnetic pole is drifting slowly but steadily towards Russia -- and it's throwing off planes in Florida.
Tampa International Airport was forced to readjust its runways Thursday to account for the movement of the Earth's magnetic fields, information that pilots rely upon to navigate planes. Thanks to the fluctuations in the force, the airport has closed its primary runway until Jan. 13 to change taxiway signs to account for the shift, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The poles are generated by movements within the Earth's inner and outer cores, though the exact process isn't exactly understood. They're also constantly in flux, moving a few degrees every year, but the changes are almost never of such a magnitude that runways require adjusting, said Paul Takemoto, a spokesman for the FAA.
Read more:
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/01/06/magnetic-nort... Rapid movement of Magnetic North Pole towards Russia may have caused bird deaths
Another theory is that the rapid movement of the Magnetic North Pole towards Russia may have affected the birds' innate navigation systems.
Inbuilt navigation systems in birds and fish is believed to be affected by magnetism.
Scientists have said the Magnetic North Pole is shifting at an average of around 25 miles a year.
With birds and fish relying on it to travel to breeding grounds and warmed climes, there are fears that the shifting pole could be confusing the animals which means they do not migrate in time to avoid cold weather.
Tests are being carried out on the dead birds and fish, but results are not expected for several weeks.
Read more:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1344913/Animal-...