Earth’s magnetic pole shifts, screws up runway at Florida airport

[lestat1116]

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An airport in Tampa, Florida, has had to temporarily close its runways to keep up with Earth's magnetic north pole, which is drifting toward Russia at a rate of 40 miles per year.

Fox News reports that the international airport was forced to adjust the signs on its busiest runway Thursday because pilots depend on the magnetic fields to navigate. The runway will be closed until Jan. 13, and will re-open with new taxiway signs that indicate its new location on aviation charts, the Tampa Bay Tribune reports.

Paul Takemoto, a spokesman for the FAA, says the Earth's magnetic fields are constantly in flux -- but rarely so much so that runway signage needs to be changed. "You want to be absolutely precise in your compass heading," he told Fox. "To make sure the precision is there that we need, you have to make these changes."


"The Earth's poles are changing constantly, and when they change more than three degrees, that can affect runway numbering," FAA spokesperson Kathleen Bergen told Fox News. It's unclear whether any other airports will have to adjust their runways.

Earth's magnetic field, which still flummoxes those who study it, "is thought to be generated deep inside the planet," LiveScience writer Jeanna Bryner explains. "An inner core of solid iron is surrounded by an outer core of molten iron. They rotate at different rates, and the interaction between the regions creates what scientists call a 'hydromagnetic dynamo.' It's something like an electric motor, and it generates a magnetic field akin to a giant bar magnet."

Sometimes, the poles completely flip -- and presumably when that happens, many bigger changes are afoot than modest tweaks to airport signs. The last time the planet experienced a polarity flip was 780,000 years ago.

[salbahis]

foxnews?, id better watch unionnews...

[rodsky]

foxnews?, id better watch unionnews...

Are you perhaps referring to "The Onion"?

-RODION

[salbahis]

Are you perhaps referring to "The Onion"?

-RODION

darn.... yup... wrong channel....

[Moongoddess28]

Creeepy!

[Pi2plank]

ngano kaha wla sila dayon maka adjust ani, i've read before that pilots flying near the north pole would better rely on their gyroscopes than their compasses.. that's because when you're traveling the north pole, the n point of the compass would move faster than when you're in the equatorial region, & the sun rises & sets on about the same side of the horizon, unlike here if you face the east, the sun will rise there & will set at the back.. so kanang mga sweto sa north pole would rather depend on gyroscope than the compass..

[rodsky]

ngano kaha wla sila dayon maka adjust ani,

The runway in question is in Florida, not near the north pole nor the north magnetic pole.

i've read before that pilots flying near the north pole would better rely on their gyroscopes than their compasses.. that's because when you're traveling the north pole, the n point of the compass would move faster than when you're in the equatorial region, & the sun rises & sets on about the same side of the horizon, unlike here if you face the east, the sun will rise there & will set at the back.. so kanang mga sweto sa north pole would rather depend on gyroscope than the compass..

You must mean the north magnetic pole (NMP). If you're flying over the geographic north pole, you're compass will reliably point towards 82°42′N 114°24′W / 82.7°N 114.4°W / 82.7; -114.4, to the west of Ellesmere Island in Canada.

Also, only an inexperienced pilot would rely on the a/c's gyroscope (which drives the heading indicator on the panel) for directions, because the gyroscope is "slaved" to the compass, and in fact, from time to time, the pilot has to "reorient" the heading indicator vis-a-vis the a/c's compass. As long as radio comms are still functional, the NAV radios or ADF are reliable in finding your way around, and with the advent of portable GPS systems, it's a bit dense for a private pilot not to invest in one.

-RODION

[kizzy_met21]

faux news...

[ferma2]

The last time the planet experienced a polarity flip was 780,000 years ago.

Damn scary.. surely, many people will die during air(and maybe in sea) transportation.

[rodsky]

Damn scary.. surely, many people will die during air(and maybe in sea) transportation.

You're kidding right? In the age of GPS, transponders, AIS receivers, and chart plotters? You seem to live in an ancient age where the compass is the only means to find direction, and even during those ancient times, the compass wasn't the ONLY navigational tool available.

-RODION