The north magnetic pole （磁极） is no longer a resident of Canada．It has drifted across the Canadian Arctic and is now angling toward Siberia.
Not to be confused with the geographic North Pole—the northern extremity of the Earth’s axis（地轴），the north magnetic pole （where the Earth’s magnetic field is directed downward） is moving due to natural changes in the Earth’s magnetic field, a process that originates about 3, 000 kilometers below our feet, in the outer core（核心）of the planet. But scientists are now noticing that the magnetic pole has picked up its pace.
Over the past century, the pole has been migrating at an average speed of about 10 kilometers per year, says Larry Newitt, head of Geomagnetic Laboratory at Natural Resources Canada in Ottawa．Since the 1970s, this speed has increased to about 50 kilometers per year.
Scientists are wondering why the speed is increasing, says Newitt. One Hypothesis （假说） relates it to “magnetic jerks”, sudden shifts （变化） in the rate of change of the magnetic field．There have been three jerks in the past four decades, each one correlating to an increase in speed.
If the north magnetic pole continues at its current rate, it could reach Siberia by 2056.
“For most of recorded history, the pole has been a part of Canada, and now it’s not,” says Newitt. “It may be a blow to our collective psyche, but other than that, it doesn’t have a major effect on most people’s existence.

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地球的北磁极不再是加拿大境内的居民了。它已经穿过了加拿大的北极圈，正朝着西伯利亚斜向漂移。
请不要与地球的地理北极——地球地轴的最北端相混淆，北磁极（此处地球磁场的磁力线垂直向下）由于地球磁场的自然变化而正在发生位移，地球磁场的自然变化源自于我们脚下3,000公里处的地底下，即地球核的外圈。但现在科学家们注意到它加快了它的位移步伐。
横跨上个世纪，北磁极平均每年以约10公里的速度迁移，劳瑞.纽伊特，渥太华加拿大自然资源地磁实验室的主任说道，自上世纪七十年代后，该速度增加到约每年50公里。
科学家们对该速度的提高的原因是不知所踪，纽伊特说，有一种假设是将它与“磁jerk”——一种磁场变化速率的突然偏移相联系。在过去的四十多年里有三次这样的jerk，每次都有一次速度的增加而形成对应关系。
若北磁极以目前的速度继续漂移，那么它将在2056年抵达西伯利亚。
“在大多数有记录的历史资料里，北磁极一直是加拿大的一部分，而现在不再是了，”纽伊特说道，“这也许是对我们集体灵魂的一种打击，但是，除此之外，对大多数人的生存没有大的影响”。