Replies

LRS:
Great link! By manipulating the URL a little bit, I was able to get the equivalent map for the North magnetic pole. Here are both:

South Magnetic Pole Movement
North Magnetic Pole Movement

Robert A. Cook, PE:
These maps show what I was asking about. Pull up both maps and toggle between them, looking at the changes from 1990 to 2005.

Notice that the movement of the North magnetic pole position is about 375 miles (using 4am spherical trig), while the movement in the South magnetic pole position has only been about 35 miles. That's more than an order of magnitude of difference!

Moreover, notice that trend is for ever increasing annual changes in the movement of the North magnetic pole, while the South magnetic pole is doing just the opposite; its annual movement is in serious decline.

Taking into account both of those observations, I'd say the measured pole shift is strictly a northern hemisphere phenomenon. Which calls into question whether these changes are heralding a pole switch.

Also notice that the pole skew (the difference between where the poles emerge and where they should emerge if the pole went straight through the center of the earth), is getting worse, not better. Current skew is 74º in long. and 18º in lat.

When viewing these maps, exercise some caution. Notice that for the North Pole map, they show longitudes of 235º to 275º! In other words, they use the system of longitudes that start at Greenwich with 0º increasing eastward around the earth and back to Greenwich at 360º (0º).

--Boot Hill

Good job on digging out the other map!

And, that is an interesting point about the differences in movement.

On the "down" side ;), as someone who merely follows these kinds of occurences as a general interest, I was ready to accept a polar shift as something I probably wouldn't have to be overly concerned with in regards to my day to day life, but this difference could change things a tad. This reeks of an imbalance, and there is the old saying about how nature abhores a vacum. In other words, whatever the cause of the movement of the magnetic poles, what are the implications of the difference? Obviously, the Earth and other planets would never be perfectly balanced magnets, but just how imbalanced can we get? Further, what happens when nature no longer tolerates a huge imbalance, whatever that limit may be? Could there be a correction that might involve "violence"?

Finally, is the question that has been bugging me for several years, ever since I learned of geomagnetic jerks: can the positioning of the Earth's magnetic field affect such things as the climate and weather patterns, and, the ozone hole?

I joined in on this diccussion because I would really like to see the opinions of those who know a WHOLE lot more on this subject than I...