I'm sure most of you heard about this story. Tampa, FL airport runways needed repainting to align with the shifting pole. I knew the poles moved, but 40 miles a year is surprising. There's an interesting science friday interview on NPR about it.

Quote:

Prof. MERRILL: ...to know that that north magnetic pole was actually traveling southward between 1800 and 1850. It then turned around and started going northward. And as you mentioned, Ira, it is accelerating to the north today.

FLATOW: It's accelerating?

Prof. MERRILL: Yeah. It's been going faster. In fact, at the turn of the century, it was going about 30 miles a year. Now, it's about, as you mentioned, about 40 miles a year.

FLATOW: Wow. I didn't realize that. I thought maybe it was just this constant velocity (unintelligible).

Prof. MERRILL: But it may slow down...

FLATOW: Yeah.

Prof. MERRILL: ...in the next 10 years, and go in an entirely different direction. We don't know.