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CANADA could soon lose its claim to the magnetic North Pole. Studies carried out last year by the Geological Survey of Canada revealed a surprisingly nimble North Pole that’s wandering around the Arctic four times as fast as previously thought. For most of the last century, the pole was migrating north-north-west at about 10 kilometres per year. But a 2001 survey has revealed that it is now heading out of Canadian territory at 40 kilometres per year. “If it keeps on going, in about 50 years it will hit Siberia,” says Larry Newitt of the GSC. But don’t reset your compass just yet. According to Newitt, these newly discovered “jerks” in the magnetic field are just as likely to reverse before then.