The government shutdown is delaying an urgent update of the World Magnetic Model, the underlying basis for all modern navigation systems, and those systems are in danger of becoming unacceptably inaccurate. Magnetic North, the wandering point near the North Pole that is the reference for navigation services, is racing away from Canada toward Siberia. It's moving so fast that all navigation data needs a reset. The World Magnetic Model is a joint responsibility of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the British Geological Survey and geophysicists were planning to issue the update Jan. 15, but the U.S. scientists are furloughed. The new model is now tentatively set to be released Jan. 30 but that will depend on whether the shutdown is over by then.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/recent-updates/business-military/shutdown-delays-navigation-update