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.

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.

A Magnetic Shift. Magnetic north is not fixed like its geographic counterpart, the North Pole. Instead, it meanders, driven by the roiling motion of molten metals in Earth’s outer core.

A sudden deceleration “The current behavior of magnetic north is something we have never observed before,” William Brown of the BGS said in a statement. "Magnetic north has been moving slowly ...

The magnetic north pole, ... At its current trajectory, it is likely to approach Siberia in the next decade. Alternatively, the motion could abruptly stop and reverse to Canada, he said.

In the 300 years between 1600 and 1900, scientists estimate that the magnetic North Pole moved about six miles per year. At the beginning of this century, it picked up to about 34 miles per year ...

“The current behavior of magnetic north is something that we have never observed before. Magnetic north has been moving slowly around Canada since the 1500s,” William Brown, global geomagnetic ...

The magnetic North Pole is on a journey toward Russia in a way that has not been seen before. The British Geological Survey (BGS) works with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric ...

Earth’s magnetic north is not static. Like an anchorless buoy pushed by ocean waves, the magnetic field is constantly on the move as liquid iron sloshes around in the planet’s outer core.