Geophysicist named the reason for the change in the action of the compass hand over a hundred years

The compass arrow has become closer to true north in the last 100 years due to the movement of the northern magnetic pole toward the geographic pole, Nikolai Palshin, a geophysicist and leading researcher at the P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, told RIA Novosti on December 1.

"Now the north pole is quite close to the geographic pole, much closer than 100 years ago," he explained in a conversation with RIA Novosti.

According to the scientist, at the beginning of the XX century the compass arrow pointed to the magnetic pole, which differed from the true pole by several degrees, but now this difference is less.

The geophysicist noted that the main magnetic field is caused by complex processes in the inner core of the Earth, about which little is known, and for this reason it is impossible to predict the movement of the poles.

At the same time, the movement of magnetic poles does not affect everyday life, Palshin specified. He pointed out that the magnetic field is now almost not used for navigation, and experts use an updated digital model of the Earth's main magnetic field.

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Earlier, on November 17, The Independent newspaper reported that over the past five years, the speed of approach of the northern magnetic pole to Russia has slowed to 25 km per year. As explained by an employee of the British Geological Survey, the magnetic pole has been moving along the northern coast of Canada for centuries. In the 1990s, it drifted into the Arctic Ocean and then accelerated and began moving toward Siberia. In the early 2000s, it accelerated to about 55 kilometers per year.