The United States Geological Survey has found that the magnetic north pole of the Earth is shifting 40 miles per year.  The rate represents a 36% increase over the last decade.  This means that hikers, campers, boaters and wilderness explorers of all kinds must calibrate for the shift or risk finding themselves potentially hundreds of miles off-course.

Many of the more expensive compasses and GPS technologies take into account the Earth's shifting poles, but the cheap compasses with just a floating magnetic needle pointing north could be wrong.  Experts warn it just depends on where you are and how the field is fluctuating. However, Airports have already been forced to recalculate flight paths due to the pole shifts.

Other unfortunate aspects of the shifting pole: Americans are less likely to see the Northern lights as they move towards Russia.