The history of the appearance of a magnetic compass goes back to ancient times, and there were varieties of this navigation device both in China and in Europe. The magnetic compass was successfully used among sailors and travelers, until it was replaced by more modern navigators. And the point is not even that in places of magnetic anomalies the compass readings should not be believed, but that its arrow does not point to the North Pole at all.
The arrow of the magnetic compass indicates the direction to the magnetic pole of the Earth, and not to the geographical, and their positions differ significantly. The location of the magnetic pole of our planet shifts every year, and in the past geological epochs there have been repeated pole changes. In addition, the north magnetic pole and the south magnetic pole are not in strict opposition and not at the same distance from their geographic "partners", that is, they are not antipodal points.
For example, the magnetic north pole is located southwest of the geographic pole, within 83-87 degrees north latitude, and its location is constantly changing. According to Canadian experts monitoring the location of the Earth's North Magnetic Pole, over the past decades, it has strongly displaced to the north and left the Canadian Arctic. According to researchers' forecasts, if the trend of its movement continues, then it will reach the coast of the Russian Taimyr Peninsula in 25 years.
The South Magnetic Pole also does not stand still, and it is located even further from the South Geographic Pole than the North Magnetic Pole from the North Geographic Pole. The South Magnetic Pole is not even on the territory of Antarctica, but outside it, in the range of 62-66 degrees south latitude.
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But the position of the magnetic poles can change much faster than now. In the history of the Earth, reversals of the magnetic field have occurred repeatedly, when the north and south magnetic poles of our planet were reversed. But this process does not take place in an instant, but stretches over several thousand years. As specialists in paleomagnetism have found out, the last change of the magnetic poles took place on our planet about 780,000 years ago. Thanks to the natural remanent magnetization of rocks, scientists can determine the location of the magnetic poles in a particular geological era. The change of poles does not differ in any periodicity and at the moment cannot be accurately predicted. Despite the fact that experts from different countries predict different dates for this event,there is no strict algorithm for determining the date of the next magnetic pole change.
The very process of changing the poles, according to most scientists, is accompanied by significant changes in the life of the planet. During their change, an increase in the amount of incoming radiation is possible, which can lead to climate change and partial extinction of flora and fauna. But since the pole change occurred at least 15 times, and life on our planet still exists, then you should not give in to panic at the sight of another prediction that a catastrophic change of magnetic poles is about to occur.
Olga Frolova
