Reader View from the Solent writes:
Global warming shifts the Earth’s poles. North Pole heads for Greenland
“Global warming is changing the location of Earth’s geographic poles, according to a study in Geophysical Research Letters1.
Researchers at the University of Texas, Austin, report that increased melting of the Greenland ice sheet — and to a lesser extent, ice loss in other parts of the globe — have helped to shift the North Pole several centimetres east each year since 2005.
“There was a big change,” says geophysicist and lead author Jianli Chen. ”
Between 1982 and 2005, the pole drifted southeast towards northern Labrador, Canada, at a rate of about 2 milliarcseconds — or roughly 6 centimetres — per year. But in 2005, the pole changed course and began galloping east towards Greenland at a rate of more than 7 milliarcseconds per year. (which amounts to 21cm or ~8 1/4″- Anthony)
Scientists have long known that the locations of Earth’s geographic poles are not fixed. Over the course of the year, they shift seasonally as Earth’s distributions of snow, rain and humidity change. “Usually [the shift] is circular, with a wobble,” says Chen.
But underlying the seasonal motion is a yearly motion that is thought to be driven in part by continental drift. It was the change in that motion that caught the attention of Chen and his colleagues, who used data collected by NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) to determine whether ice loss had shifted and accelerated the yearly polar drift.
GRACE’s twin probes measure changes in Earth’s gravity field, which can be used to track shifts in the distribution of water and ice. Chen’s team used GRACE data to model how melting ice caps affect Earth’s mass distribution. They found that recent accelerated ice loss and associated sea-level rise accounted for more than 90% of the post-2005 polar shift.
More at:
http://www.nature.com/news/polar-wander-linked-to-climate-change-1.12994
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With global warming introducing that extra wobble, it is easy to create a model to project what effect global warming will have on the Earth in the future. /sarc – Anthony
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have helped to shift the North Pole several centimetres east each year since 2005.
Every direction from the North Pole is South 🙂
it seems that Global Warming effects everything, I blame it for my hair loss, I keep pulling it out every time another crackpot idea is printed!
This one is serious gents. The galloping of the poles cannot be permitted to interfere with the climactic effects such as increase in numbers of ‘working girls’, giant crustaceans, or the realization of our evolutionary destiny as hobbits. Act now to stop this madness!
/sarc
Well that is gret news; a self correcting problem. Greenland melts-North pole moves to Greenland-Greenland freezes up-problem fixed, voilla !
Dust off the covers of “The Hab Theory”. Polar change from AGW will cause the planet to capsize.
Numerous catastrophes from the dramatic alteration of the poles, including melting of the polar ice caps and commencement of polar freezing in formerly temperate areas, will occur. Once again science fiction becomes reality.
Oh no! The pole shifters can now join up with the climate catastrophists who already have gobbled up the population bombists, the alien invasion watchers, and the all chemicals are bad nuts. At this rate of assimilation an unprecedented 97% of the absurdly gullible will be coalesced behind a single cause soon.
George E. Smith says-
“Greenland melts-North pole moves to Greenland-Greenland freezes up-problem fixed, voila !”
You.Are.Awesome!
Greenland is east of the magnetic north pole. The article does not distinguish between the “two” North Poles.
“But underlying the seasonal motion is a yearly motion that is thought to be driven in part by continental drift.”
I assume that continental drift is influenced by earthquakes. I hope the researchers looked to see if any major earthquakes happened in late 2004, perhaps in December…
Tell the kids / grandkids that they must stop CO2 now, else Santa won’t be able to navigate to their homes next Christmas.
Bugs Man says:
May 15, 2013 at 9:18 am
Tell the kids / grandkids that they must stop CO2 now, else Santa won’t be able to navigate to their homes next Christmas.
—
To the contrary, he will be able to operate directly out of a Walmart store in Oklahoma!
So, between 1982 and 2005, a time of alleged rapid global warming, the north magnetic pole moved at an average of 6 cm per year. no indication of accelerating pole velocity was noted over this time period. Then magically since 2005 we have an abrupt step up to 21 cm per year with a change of direction of 45 degrees to the original vector. the erratic nature of the magnetic pole movement does not disprove the Chen hypothesis but sure makes it suspect. But when scientists are given free license to attribute all phenomena to climate change, the degradation reflects on all scientists.
I’m not an expert by any means, but claiming to be able to measure pole movement to the centimeter seems like an awfully big claim to me. Maybe they are able to do it — I really don’t know, but if they are, what is their margin of error? Millimeters?
Really? Maybe AGW was responsible for why I couldn’t get dates when I was younger. The magnetic poles have always shifted. In fact, for those ignorant of the fact, there have been several pole shifts in the life of the planet. Maybe the increase in the velocity of the movement is indicative of an imminent pole reversal. This has been talked about for many years and according to the frequency of occurrence, we are due for one.
Michael Palmer:
That will mean that Santa will have to get a green card.
You just leave him alone to operate from his present base in Walmart (aka Asda) in Falkirk.
Is that really statistically significant?
Researchers at the University of Texas, Austin, report that increased melting of the Greenland ice sheet — and to a lesser extent, ice loss in other parts of the globe — have helped to shift the North Pole several centimetres east each year since 2005.
Obviously the south pole must have shifted an equal amount. How can they be so certain it was the “ice loss” that caused this situation rather than the ice gain in Antarctica? Perhaps we need to increase CO2 so there is a loss in Antarctica to balance the loss in the north.
Instead of the magnet poles flipping maybe this is a prelude to them literally flipping. We will have to watch this very carefully.
That’s nothing. Anthropogenic Global Warming is the cause of wrinkles. Between my birth in the 1950s and the late 1980s I gained on average around one new wrinkle per year. Since the advent of “serious” Global Warming in the late 80s I’ve seen that figure first double, then triple, and I estimate that currently I’m gaining around five new wrinkles every single year. If AGW doesn’t stop soon my whole body will need ironing.
Seriously, though: how many sharks does AGW have to jump before people stop watching?
Since this seems to be confusing some people, note that the article is talking about the geographic north pole, not the magnetic north pole. The north magnetic pole is currently moving 50-60 km per year.
Leif, what is north of the north pole?
Have soon before alarmists call for a “poll tax” to fix the problem?
You know this is really poor science. The last true pole shift was 790 million years ago. Pole wandering has occurred continuously. Continuously. As any 7th grade science student learns.
What is the deal with climatology? Do only those not ready for real science endeavor enter the field?
It’s too bad this article is paywalled, there a lot to be desired from the press release and abstract. It appears that they are claiming that sudden shifts in Chandler wobble are due to climate change. If so, then what caused sudden shifts in the 1850s and the 1920s?
http://www.technologyreview.com/view/415093/earths-chandler-wobble-changed-dramatically-in-2005/
http://arxiv.org/abs/0908.3732
Well, that accounts for the missing heat. It was powering the newly commissioned underground conveyor system.