WUWT readers may remember this story I wrote about the clowns from Old Pulteney’s “Row to the Pole” who had headlines blaring in Britain exclaiming they had rowed to the “north pole”. Telegraph, BBC, and Independent geography FAIL: “Row to the Pole” never made it to the “North Pole” – they are 790 miles short
I pointed out that not only were they NOT at the north pole, they weren’t even at the north magnetic pole which had since moved due to the Earth’s normal processes.
As I explained before the trip even started, there’s no “pole” achievement here, not even close. They are 738 KM short of the actual magnetic pole. The 1996 magnetic pole doesn’t exist there anymore and thus can’t be a pole of any kind.
The Telegraph article says:
The successful trip to the Pole, described as the “greatest ocean rows of all time”, was only possible because of more seasonal ice-melt in the Arctic that has opened the waters up.
No mention of the fact that they aren’t even close. The actual North pole is 790 miles away:
Most any child in primary school taking an introduction to geography could spot this error, which makes the Telegraphs error doubly embarrassing.
Following my lead, WUWT reader Neil Turner issued a complaint to the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) in the UK over this glaring inaccuracy. They responded with a ruling and agreed the Telegraph erred. Here is part of the email exchange from the PCC and the Telegraph:
And here is the microscopically sized “correction” printed today on page 18, next to the nude wrestler story and the fashion news. It doesn’t even contain the word “correction”.
Neil writes in his email to me:
My observation is that it is typical that the misleading story received far greater prominence than the correction. I took this up with the PCC, and they explained that the size, font etc of correction is leaft at the Editor’s discretion.
From my perspective, the editor’s discretion, shown above in it’s placement and size, is pretty much the journalistic equivalent of “eff you!”.
What a bunch of gormless cobblers.
Meanwhile Jock Wishart and the crew enjoys the spoils of their sponsor, the Old Pulteney whisky company, caring not at all that people think he’s reached some sort of geographic pole. Such is the way of the world today, fluff and failure make headlines whiles facts get buried on page 18 next to the nude wrestlers.
Mar Thomas, maybe this will help you find the Pole.
http://geography.about.com/od/learnabouttheearth/a/northpole_2.htm
What a nice picture of five men, all of whom are woefully short.
gosh. It is a challenge. And what is to be achieved, BY DEFINITION, is to reach the magnetic pole at its position of 1996. If a news paper gets it wrong, that does not make everybody an idiot.
If I say I sail to the magnetic pole where it was 300 years ago, then that is what I do. It is amazing how much energy is wasted on such a non-existent issue. Read the Wiki on the various poles, it’s all in there.
Another example of why the “4th Estate” (MSM) is being rapidly overtaken by the “5th Estate” (WWW). And why there will be more and more attempts to restrict the WWW.
Well done Anthony, the word is now out and therefore will spread. We should no longer think of the MSM as being all powerful. It will become but a supplement to the 5th Estate.
Mark Thomas says: September 30, 2011 at 11:29 am
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In the South hemisphere magnetic field is far simpler, there the magnetic North pole is where the main field is the strongest; it has travelled across the Antarctica during last 400 years and currently is located just off it. In the North hemisphere there is a bifurcation of the Earth’s magnetic field, the strongest area for centuries was near the Hudson Bay in Canada, while the other weaker peak was to be found in the Central Siberia, with a magnetic needle pointing half way in between.
Things have moved since, the Hudson Bay is rapidly loosing while Siberia is gaining the strength. Neither of two locations has moved much, but that simplest of the instruments ‘the magnetic needle’ still points halfway in between, with the ‘virtual magnetic pole’ racing across the Arctic Ocean towards Russia.
So in reality the South magnetic pole flipped from the Hudson Bay to Siberia in the mid 1990s and since then, both magnetic poles are in the Eastern Hemisphere, but with strengthening of the Siberian pole, the South Atlantic magnetic anomaly is becoming ever deeper, eventually causing a hazardous area for any satellites orbiting above.
More details here on the Earth’s magnetic model:
http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag/WMM/data/WMM2010/WMM2010_Report.pdf
Carla says: September 30, 2011 at 12:16 pm
…..
Hi
Sort of.
Magnetic equator is mainly affected by movements in the Northern Hemisphere. This graph shows evolution of the vertical component Bz since 1600:
http://www.vukcevic.talktalk.net/LFC23.htm
@neil
“Well done. I was aware that there were two complainants. Did the Guardian and Independent issue a correction ?”
Yes! Both amended the articles I complained about. – I was also told there was a second complainant to the Telegraph; its good to find out it was another WUWT reader!
I’m pleasantly surprised with how effective the PCC has been with regards to this issue; I think we should make a habit of pressing them regularly on these issues when we have the time.
I was looking over this supposed proof of the magnetic south being in Siberia. The NOAA report is very scientific and complicated for an amateur (like myself) to dig through, but I am quite certain that it does not say what you think it says (h/t Inigo Montoya).
The study and report appear to me to be measurements of the CHANGE in INTENSITY of the magnetic field at various positions around the world. This intensity is measured in various directions, and that part I don’t quite understand. But I think it is saying that the INTENSITY of the SOUTH magnetic force has changed (GROWN) more in central Siberia than any where else.
It sounds like they are saying a compass has two poles, north and south, which BOTH point toward their opposite magnetic pole EVERYWHERE on earth. The pull on the NORTH end of the magnet toward the SOUTH magnetic pole has strengthened more in central Siberia than any other place.
Which has NOTHING to do with the location of the south magnetic pole.
Someone correct me if I’m eggregiously off, here. I’m not ready to start believing that Polaris is (was) our South Star.
The chance that I would buy a bottle of “Old Putzney” is zero. I’m even not sure they market the stuff where I live. Obviously, they don’t care about science and truth.
Katabasis1
Agreed. The PCC were very good (quick response / impartial), although I sense they don’t really have the power to get the publication to retract / correct in appropriate proportion to the publicity of the misleading article.
I was asked to agree the DT’s response. Initially this was a statement from them advising that they had corrected the website, and was this sufficient ? I felt that as they had also published it in their paper version, they should correct it there, and the PCC duly passed this message on. It’s only when you see the original and the retraction side by side (as AW has presented above) that one realises how inadequate this really is. This being my “first time” I maybe asked for too little. Hey ho.
It looks like the magnetic poles are close to flipping so we may (or may not) live through interesting times.
The south atlantic anomaly is very interesting as a north pole seems to be forming there (hope I’m not in a plane when it happens 😮 – though it may take many years).
Look on the bright side they won’t just be the northern or southern lights anymore!
“…first to row to the pole after the ice caps melted…
Did I read that correctly? Antarctica has melted away to bare ground?
Look, these people don’t know what magnetic means anyway.
I have to defend my old sailing pal John Wishart.
He ALWAYS said that they were going to the 1996 position.
If the “Media” misrepresent him there isn’t a lot that he can do about it; as we here know only too well.
@Oldseadog
Thank you, may I suggest that if he is a man of integrity, I encourage you to encourage him to issue a statement of fact and correction on the “Row to the Pole” website, otherwise he is complicit.
oldseadog says (September 30, 2011 at 2:25 pm): “He ALWAYS said that they were going to the 1996 position. If the “Media” misrepresent him there isn’t a lot that he can do about it; as we here know only too well.”
So he was one of the people who wrote in to correct the article?
@Anthony
@Oldseadog
Go to Oldpulteny.com, read their intro which has been there for months. Then stop this nonsense.
Or “next to the corset ads,” as Nixon used to say.
But, in some (or all?) of the headline-stories after their “achievement,” they were quoted as claiming they had reached the North Pole–no qualification was included.
It still annoys me to see all that blue that they photoshopped over the ice fields to pretend that it had all melted.
Scammers.
John Conner says:
September 30, 2011 at 1:27 pm
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Hi John
Image of the Earth magnetic field of a simple ‘bar’ magnet (surface up to many hundreds of miles altitude) is misleading and the source of some confusion. The Earth’s magnetic field currently is mainly in the shape of the capital letter ‘Y’, with bottom end just of the Antarctica. Two branches are in the N. Hemisphere, one in Canada the other in Siberia.
Magnetic pole in the South hemisphere is very clear, it is at the location of the strongest field (pages 70-73)
http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag/WMM/data/WMM2010/WMM2010_Report.pdf
In the North there is a choice.
One alternative is the ‘magnetic average’ of the two top ends of the ‘Y’ shape. Problem with this is that it is not the strongest (as ‘pole’ implies), it is far from static, but is currently moving not at the steady rate but accelerating towards Russia ; according to some calculation it will reach the Siberian landmass in about two decades, and in another decade or two it will be in the Central Siberia.
I am advocating that the pole should be at the location of the strongest field which happens to be stationary.
Fast moving or fixed pole? The Earth is determined to impose its own solution, I am just making readers aware of it, and all schools should do the same.
How can we agree on anything is this important debate when we can’t even agree where bloody Santa lives.
I saw that microscopic article in today’s DT, more by accident than design. The mini-headline certainly gave no clue that it was a correction…talk about tokenism.
The DT has become a tabloid rag lately, in all but size.
Next time they could row to the West Pole, Texas (near Austin) along the Colorado river. It is much easier and again, they could truthfully claim having rowed to the Pole with no ice whatsoever around. They could even celebrate Armadillo Day there, at Bee Cave. Isn’t it fun enough?
Ben Turpin says:
September 30, 2011 at 3:13 pm
How can we agree on anything is this important debate when we can’t even agree where bloody Santa lives.
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Santa lives at the Ritz Carlton in the Cayman Islands.
Why didn’t they go to the geophysical pole (even though it has a 26000 year orbital wobble)… the real point about which the earth rotates about it’s axis, as to me, that is the ‘Real’ North pole and not some wandering magnetic occurance which just happens to be at the polar regions at present?
The boat “Old Pulteney” has of course been sold to “ursus bogus”, who has just realised that he’s been conned, as the sea is re-freezing.
I’d still like to know what that outboard motor was for.
Matt says:
If I say I sail to the magnetic pole where it was 300 years ago, then that is what I do.
I think I’ll go to somewhere the magnetic pole has been in the past. Shouldn’t be too hard since it’s not as if anyone can prove that any random point on the Earth’s surface has never corresponded to a magnetic pole sometime in the last 4 billion years.