The Earth?s magnetic poles might be starting to flip, according to Gauthier Hulot of the Institute of Earth Sciences in Paris and his colleagues, who have seen strange anomalies in the Earth?s magnetic field.
The magnetic field is created by the flow of molten iron inside the Earth?s core. These circulation patterns are affected by the Earth?s rotation, so the field normally aligns with the Earth?s axis, forming the north and south poles.
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The North Magnetic Pole could leave Canada by 2004, migrate north of Alaska and eventually wind up in Russia, according to Larry Newitt of the Geological Survey of Canada.
The magnetic pole has drifted for decades, but change has accelerated in recent years. If the pole follows its present course, it will pass north of Alaska and arrive in Siberia in 500 years, but Newitt says his predictions could be wrong. ?Although it has been moving north or northwest for a hundred years, it is not going to continue in that direction forever. Its speed has increased considerably during the past 25 years, and it could just as easily decrease a few years from now,? he says.
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