Prepare to adjust your compass

Uh-oh...according to a report presented at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union this week, Earth's north magnetic pole, long known to be "wandering," seems to have decided to get out of town and has been picking up its pace. Joseph Stoner of Oregon State University presented data indicating the pole has picked up speed over the past century and is heading for Siberia. (Before the fall of the Iron Curtain we would have been sure this was a Commie plot; these days, it must be Liberals or Evilutionists who are conspiring to steal the northern lights from Alaska.)

When I consider that recently certain politicians and wingnuts have been speaking and writing nonsense, such that they are frequently characterized as claiming "down is up," I suppose it should come as no surprise if the Earth experiences a magnetic reversal. The last reversal occurred about 780,000 years ago. Hmmm. I thought the wingnuts only wanted to bring things back to the way they were about 1,000 years ago.



(Thanks to Eurekalert for the warning!)