Ever the trouble maker , Australia has been creeping northward around 6.9 centimeter ( 2.7 inches ) each twelvemonth in a slightly clockwise direction due to the motion of its tectonic plates . In geological terms , this meandering is pretty pacy . Some50 million years from now , it   is even expected to collide into the southeastern coast of China .

In the shorter term , however , the problem is with spherical locating systems ( GPS ) and their struggle to keep track .

GPS satellite web determine   a locating base on world   longitudes and latitudes . This means a certain co-ordinate would rest the same in telling to the globe as a whole , even if that actual Edwin Herbert Land mass has moved “ around ” it . To report for this , Australia has had to adjust its coordinate four times in the last 50 years . Their last transmutation in 1994 was a banging 200 meters ( 656 foot ) , theNew York Timesreports .

Their next enceinte move is scheduled for New Year ’s day 2017 , when Australia – along with 23 million hungover Aussie   –   will officiallymove their local coordinates   forwardby 1.8 time ( 5.9 feet ) .

You might think , what ’s the grown deal ? After all , your car or smartphone GPS seems like a constant informant of disappointment when it come to step - by - step truth .

But the trouble occur   when automate technology progressively   rely on extremely accurate world positioning and coordinates . Take , for example , driverless cars : A few feet in this case   could intend motor along the sidewalk . The same goes for aerial drones , whether that   be   an online shopping pitch or some high - tech military vehicle .

The solution convey even more tricky when you consider all architectonic plate are on the move at unlike rates and in different directions . For example , the North American plate is affect at 2.5 centimeters ( 0.98 inches ) a twelvemonth , according toNational Geographic .

The next stone’s throw , then , is perhaps develop a Modern and more complex system of positioning that   is able to account for these movements .

" We used the old shell ready system to make life simple , but we do n’t need to do this adaption every so often , " Dan Jaksa of Geoscience Australia told theBBC . " Once we have a system that can cover with changes over time , then everybody in the cosmos could be on that same organisation . "