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US Geologist REVEALS How Fast-Shifting North Magnetic Pole Will Affect Humanity

Magnetic compass remains an important tool of navigation even in the era of GPS, but the problem is, the needle of a compass is always aligned with the earth's north magnetic pole, which is always in flux.

The magnetic pole is a slow but steady wanderer, and geologists say it is moving from the Canadian Arctic towards Russia's Siberia at an annual rate of more than 55 kilometres.

This shift is caused by convection — a slow rotation of fluid rock and molten metal in the earth's outer core — and it is the liquid metal that generates our planet's huge magnetic field.

"It's the change in speed of the rotation of the different parts of the outer core, that means the movement of the magnetic north pole is not the same speed through time," Dr. Paul Byrne, an assistant professor at the North Carolina State University, told the CBS 17 TV station.

Knowing the location of the magnetic north pole is crucial to navigation systems containing magnetic compasses.