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Earth's magnetic shift impacts Tampa International Airport
BayNews9.com ^ | 01/06/2011 | Holly Gregory

Posted on 01/06/2011 2:59:15 PM PST by devane617

Tampa International Airport's main runway is closed for repairs due to changes in the earth's magnetic pull.

"Who over-thought this? And why?" asked one passenger, waiting for a flight.

"It's a joke," said another.

But it's no joke. Runways are aligned according to points on a compass and scientists say the Earth's magnetic North Pole is constantly shifting. That means Tampa's main runway is now six degrees off. The discrepancy could cause pilots to lose their sharp focus.

"When a pilot navigates he needs to find which is the correct runway to land and takeoff on," said Airport Director Robert Burr, "so he uses his compass in his cockpit to orient himself to tell him he's on the correct runway, so they need to line up perfectly."

Scientists say the Earth's magnetic North Pole is shifting about 40 miles a year toward Russia.

The airport will repaint the markings on the runways to account for the shift of Magnetic North.


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; Technical; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: aerospace; airplane; flight
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FYI for the fly-types...
1 posted on 01/06/2011 2:59:18 PM PST by devane617
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To: devane617

sounds like BS. the pole doesnt shift that fast. couple degrees a year tops i believe. sounds like they put it off for a decade.


2 posted on 01/06/2011 3:01:27 PM PST by beebuster2000
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To: devane617

What happens when the poles flip? Just wondering.


3 posted on 01/06/2011 3:01:48 PM PST by huldah1776
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To: devane617

“The airport will repaint the markings on the runways to account for the shift of Magnetic North.”

A 6 degree shift over the course of a runway will, I think, require more than repainting.

Why don’t they just give the pilots a new bearing to align on?


4 posted on 01/06/2011 3:02:42 PM PST by ModelBreaker
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To: devane617

What a relief. They’re only repainting the runway. I thought they might have to move it.


5 posted on 01/06/2011 3:03:18 PM PST by smokingfrog (Do all the talking you want, but do what I tell you.)
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To: devane617

must be global warming


6 posted on 01/06/2011 3:03:40 PM PST by CincyRichieRich (Keep your head up and keep moving forward!)
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To: devane617

Why would it affect only the Tampa Airport? Did Tampa move six degrees to the northeast?


7 posted on 01/06/2011 3:04:40 PM PST by oblomov
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To: huldah1776
The cataclysmic pole shift hypothesis is the conjecture that there have been rapid shifts in the relative positions of the modern-day geographic locations of the poles and the axis of rotation of a planet. For the Earth, such a dynamic change could create calamities such as floods and tectonic events.[1] This type of event would occur if the physical poles had been or would be suddenly shifted with respect to the underlying surface over a geologically short time frame. This hypothesis is almost always discussed in the context of Earth, but other bodies in the Solar System may have experienced axial reorientation during their existences. Among the scientific community, there is no research that indicates a rapid change in the position of the rotational axis. There is evidence of precession and changes in axial tilt, but this change is on much longer time-scales and does not involve relative motion of the spin axis with respect to the planet. However, in what is known as true polar wander, the solid Earth can rotate with respect to a fixed spin axis. Research shows that during the last 200 million years a total true polar wander of some 30° has occurred, but that no super-rapid shifts in the Earth's pole were found during this period.[2] A characteristic rate of true polar wander is 1° per million years or less.[3] Between approximately 790 and 810 million years ago, when the supercontinent Rodinia existed, two geologically-rapid phases of true polar wander may have occurred. In each of these, the Earth rotated ~55°.[4]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cataclysmic_pole_shift_hypothesis

8 posted on 01/06/2011 3:05:48 PM PST by americanophile
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To: huldah1776
What happens when the poles flip?

You have to turn your compass upside down.

9 posted on 01/06/2011 3:05:48 PM PST by UCANSEE2 (Lame and ill-informed post)
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To: devane617

I am sure the dhift is due to government debt.


10 posted on 01/06/2011 3:06:03 PM PST by GeronL (How DARE you have an opinion!!)
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To: oblomov

Apparently Tampa Airport has its own magnetic field.


11 posted on 01/06/2011 3:07:00 PM PST by GeronL (How DARE you have an opinion!!)
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To: ModelBreaker
Why don’t they just give the pilots a new bearing to align on?

Because that wouldn't require a $600 million project for union workers.

12 posted on 01/06/2011 3:08:39 PM PST by Cementjungle
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To: huldah1776

Total destruction. Either we all 1) die, or we 2) forget how to use paragraphs.


13 posted on 01/06/2011 3:09:32 PM PST by Cyber Liberty (We conservatives will always lose elections as long as we allow the MSM to choose our candidates.)
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To: devane617

Okay, I call b.s. on this one.
Pilots know how to adjust thier compasses to compensate for magnetic vs. geographic north. Every airport has a compass rose for pilots to align their airplanes. And the only thing they really care about when landing is wind direction.


14 posted on 01/06/2011 3:10:01 PM PST by Excellence (Buy Progresso, take off the label, write "not halal," mail to Campbell's soup company.)
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To: devane617
Earth's magnetic North Pole is constantly shifting

This must be the cause of the mass bird deaths. The birds don't have updated navigation charts, so they're all flying into objects.

15 posted on 01/06/2011 3:11:03 PM PST by Cementjungle
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To: smokingfrog
What a relief. They’re only repainting the runway. I thought they might have to move it.

That would have been the liberal plan - spend $15M+ to fix a problem with a $10,000 solution...

16 posted on 01/06/2011 3:11:06 PM PST by !1776!
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To: ModelBreaker

Runways are numbered by their bearing on a compass. Like 19L would be a 19 degree head to go right down the middle.


17 posted on 01/06/2011 3:12:16 PM PST by screaminsunshine (Beware the Big Government Media Complex)
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To: huldah1776

500 mph winds.


18 posted on 01/06/2011 3:13:12 PM PST by ken21 (gop = stupid party, dems = evil party.)
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To: smokingfrog
What a relief. They’re only repainting the runway. I thought they might have to move it.

That's a good idea!

Runways that shift to align or shift according to the magnetic north pole. Would never have to paint the runways again. ;)
19 posted on 01/06/2011 3:13:19 PM PST by adorno
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To: americanophile

Wiki.....there’s yer problem right there.....nothing biased about ‘cataclysmic’ ‘calamities’ ‘could cause’ blah, blah, blah......while they’re at it, why don’t they take a couple of clues from our famous administration/mouthpiece job-reporters and throw in a friggin’ “unexpected”, “unexpectedly”, “surprising”, etc...


20 posted on 01/06/2011 3:15:56 PM PST by Gaffer
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