rbg@cbosgd.UUCP (Richard Goldschmidt) (07/30/85)
In article <1250@phoenix.UUCP>, brent@phoenix.UUCP (Brent Callaghan) writes: > As far as I know - nutation IS predictable. There is even a clock > somewhere with extra dials for years, centuries etc. The slowest > movement is the nutation dial. > Interestingly, the earth is not fixed to it's axis of rotation. > The north & south poles can move tens of yards every year. > I've seen a map showing the south pole moving erratically > (drunken walk) within a radius of 100 yards or so. An article in the NY Times (p. 11, Sunday, 7/28) states that the north magnetic pole has moved 70 miles since 1973 and that the south pole has moved 185 miles in the last 30 years. The article suggested that changes in solar activity induced changes in the Earth's magnetic field, affecting the spin rate, and that the resulting change in angular momentum might have a dramatic effect on global climate. Rich Goldschmidt {ucbvax,ihnp4,decvax,allegra,seismo} !cbosgd!rbg ARPA: cbosgd!rbg@seismo or cbosgd!rbg@ucbvax
rdp@teddy.UUCP (07/30/85)
In article <1350@cbosgd.UUCP> rbg@cbosgd.UUCP (Richard Goldschmidt) writes: >In article <1250@phoenix.UUCP>, brent@phoenix.UUCP (Brent Callaghan) writes: >> As far as I know - nutation IS predictable. There is even a clock >> somewhere with extra dials for years, centuries etc. The slowest >> movement is the nutation dial. >> Interestingly, the earth is not fixed to it's axis of rotation. >> The north & south poles can move tens of yards every year. >> I've seen a map showing the south pole moving erratically >> (drunken walk) within a radius of 100 yards or so. > >An article in the NY Times (p. 11, Sunday, 7/28) states that the north >magnetic pole has moved 70 miles since 1973 and that the south pole has >moved 185 miles in the last 30 years. The article suggested that changes >in solar activity induced changes in the Earth's magnetic field, affecting >the spin rate, and that the resulting change in angular momentum might have >a dramatic effect on global climate. > Is it not the earth's MAGNETIC poles that wander (requiring compass correction figures on maps) and not the ROTATIONAL poles that wander? After all, changes (especially non symmetrical ones like above) in the earths rotational axis would produce some pretty severe wobbling.