The current World’s Magnetic Model was last updated in 2015. This week an update was due but the partial shutdown of the U.S. government has postponed the announcement. Another revision is planned for 2020. Why suddenly are we getting high-frequency updates on Earth’s magnetic field? Because it is changing at a much more rapid pace than normal.

Why? It may have a lot to do with what is happening deep inside the planet because it is our iron core and the swirling and churning beneath the mantle that generates Earth’s magnetic field.

At a recent meeting of the American Geophysical Union held in Washington, DC, geologists described the rate of change and attributed it to:

1. A geomagnetic pule detected in 2016 beneath South America which caused the magnetic pole to move more rapidly than normal.
2. The motion of the north magnetic pole which in 2018 crossed the International Date Line and is making a beeline for Siberia.

To deal with the navigational challenges that these two phenomena are creating, scientists have to recalibrate navigational software algorithms to adjust for the deviation.

What caused the geomagnetic pulse? Scientists believe it can be traced back to “hydromagnetic” waves from Earth’s core. And the erratic motion of the north magnetic pole may be caused by a high-speed jet of liquid iron that is flowing beneath Canada.

States Phil Livermore, a geomagnetist at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom, “The location of the north magnetic pole appears to be governed by two large-scale patches of magnetic field, one beneath Canada and one beneath Siberia. The Siberian patch is winning the competition.”

Besides the scientific curiosity of a wandering magnetic pole, what potential harm can it do? You know that electronic street map that displays on the console of your late model car? It uses GPS data which updated by the government regularly. What degrees of difference can make to those maps with significant magnetic pole changes annually could make the difference between being told to turn on to an on-ramp to an interstate highway that isn’t there.

Some interesting facts about the North Magnetic Pole.

1. First located in 1831, over the entire time it has moved 1,102 kilometers.
2. The location of the pole actually wanders as much as 80 kilometers per day in loops so that the plot of the pole is determined by drawing a line to the centre of each daily loop.
3. The current rate of movement has increased from 15 to 55 kilometers per year.

What’s this technology all about?

1. A return to sails on ships, but not the canvas ones of old.
2. The use of up-to-the-minute satellite and radar tracking of weather to optimize wind use during trips.
3. Rethinking navigation routes to reflect optimal use of wind and weather conditions.

A New Type of Sail

Ships will be outfitted with multiple 20-meter wide (65.6 feet), 50-meter high (164 feet) telescoping sails made from aluminum or fibre-reinforced curved plastic. The material of each sail is hollow in the centre to expand and contract as weather and wind conditions change.

A computer control system will position each sail to take advantage of maximum wind force. In simulation and wind tunnel experiments on models, the sails work effectively even in heavy cross winds. When in port the sails will collapse. At sea the sails can be partially to fully deployed based on prevailing wind and weather conditions.

Weather and Wind Tracking Technology

The control system will use weather forecasting live feeds, networked maritime navigation information from other ships at sea, on-board wind measurement including both direction and speed to optimize sail usage. Individual sail wind analysis will be combined with wind-flow analysis for the multiple sail array to ensure that all sails gain optimum value from prevailing winds.

Navigation Routes Redefined by Wind and Weather

Currently ships at sea seek the shortest distance routes to get from one port to another. Wind is not a factor in defining these routes. But that would change if merchant and cruise vessels were outfitted with these high-tech sails. Each sail equipped ship would be equipped with ocean wind forecasting technology for plotting an optimal course.

Measurable Benefits

1. Ships deployed with these sails wil use 30% less fuel in trans-ocean voyages.
2. Less fuel means reductions in CO2 emissions by as much as 33%.
3. With optimum routing of vessels ships will maintain on-schedule deliver at a lower cost to operators.

Current model tests are built to scale to a size suitable for large merchant ships. The next step is to build a half-scale model for testing at sea before full-scale manufacturing and first sea trials on a 180,000-ton bulk carrier outfitted with 9 sails as early as 2016. Wind Challenger is a project headed up by researchers at University of Tokyo along with a number of ship builders and vessel and fleet operators.