The updated version of the World Magnetic Model was released on Dec. 17, with a new prediction of how the magnetic north pole will shift over the next five years. Here's why it was changed.

However, for the past 30 years, the magnetic north pole has been shifting rapidly north. In 1990, it increased the pace of its shift from 9.3 miles per year to 34.2 miles per year, which was ...

British explorer Sir James Clark Ross discovered the magnetic north pole in 1831 in northern Canada, approximately 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometers) south of the true North Pole.

According to Brown, the South Pole is much more stable: "The magnetic South Pole has moved very little, covering about the same distance in a century that the north pole did in a decade." ...

While the magnetic north pole is on the move, the south magnetic pole is comparatively static. It’s moving northward, but at only about five to 10 kilometers per year, with hardly any movement ...

The planet's magnetic North Pole, where compasses point, has been unexpectedly moving toward Russia.While shifting is not a rare occurrence, the pole is moving both faster and differently than it ...

The same thing is happening with the Earth's magnetic South Pole, which is drifting eastwards over Antarctica. Scientists say the switch happens every 300,000 years.

The magnetic north pole, where compass needles point, is about 1,200 miles south and is where geomagnetic field lines are vertical. Earth’s magnetic north is not static.