Earth’s magnetic field shifts, forcing airport runway change

by WYNNE PARRY

The magnetic north pole is currently hovering over the North Sea and moving toward Siberia. This means two Florida airports are renumbering their runways.

Odd as this connection may appear on the surface, the adjustments under way at Tampa International Airport and beginning next week at Peter O’Knight Airport are the result of a natural, ongoing process.

Earth’s magnets

The Earth has an iron core, and movement within its outer part is likely responsible for sustaining a magnetic field, which constitutes much of what we measure at the Earth’s surface. As a result, the Earth resembles something of a giant magnet with two poles: magnetic north and magnetic south. However, its field is not perfectly symmetrical and has undulations that are always moving around, according to Jeffrey Love, a research scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Geomagnetism Program.

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