First they got Drumpf elected and now they’re messing with the magnetic North Pole:
Earth’s magnetic fields are shifting – and scientists are unsure why.
Researchers say the magnetic North Pole is ‘skittering’ away from Canada, towards Siberia.
The problem has got so bad, researchers around the world are scrambling to update a global model of the fields.
Called the World Magnetic Model, it underlies all modern navigation, from the systems that steer ships at sea to Google Maps on smartphones. The most recent version of the model came out in 2015, and it was supposed to last until 2020.
However, researchers say the magnetic field is changing so rapidly that they have to fix the model urgently.
It was due to be updated on the 15th January, but due to the US Government shutdown, that has already been delayed until the 30th.
The magnetic field is in a permanent state of flux.
Magnetic north wanders, and every few hundred thousand years the polarity flips so that a compass would point south instead of north.
Is it just me or is everything getting weirder faster these days?