Your compass is now wrong

Figure 1. Illustration of the orientation of magnetic field lines around planet earth (http://anshsmagnetism.wordpress.com/basic-concepts/).

The Earth's magnetic poles are shifting. They have always been on the move, but, recently, the pace of movement is quickening.

(FOX News)- The Earth's magnetic field is changing at an increasing rate, throwing off airports and altering the aurora borealis -- and its effect on ordinary compasses could mean the difference between homeward bound and hopelessly lost.

Earth’s northernmost magnetic point -- or magnetic north -- is distinct from its geographic North Pole, and scientists have long known that the magnetic poles are on the move.

But the magnetic poles have been moving faster lately, sliding towards Siberia at 34 miles per year at a speed that's accelerated 36 percent over the last 10 years, according to the United States Geological Survey, or USGS.

Since compasses rely on magnetic north to point you in the right way up the trail, the average $2-dollar model could very well point you in the wrong direction.

Can the Earth's Wandering Magnetic Poles Cause Deadly Superstorms?

Credit NOAA

The Earth's magnetic poles have started moving at an increased rate in recent years. Some fear a catastrophic pole flip. Most scientists don't seem worried.

(FOX News)- Will the wandering magnetic North Pole create crazy superstorms?

The eye-popping connection between the planet's weather and its magnetic field has caught hold among scaremongers recently, ever since scientists described the potential of devastating "superstorms" -- storms caused, scientists say, by flowing gushers of water in the sky known as atmospheric rivers. Some worriers say that these tubocharged tsunamis will soon be widespread, thanks to the increased movement of the Earth's magnetic field. 

And that when the field shifts, the story goes, anything can happen. All hell will break loose, they say, arguing that the shift has a greater effect on the world's weather than even the carbon-based influences scientists have been carefully monitoring.

Poppycock, say the best scientific minds in the Northern Hemisphere.

"Trying to link all of these things together is kind of preposterous," said Dr. Carol Raymond, principal scientist and a geophysicist with NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab, which operates a fleet of satellites that closely monitor the planet and leads the charge in Earth Science research. Read more here.