Pictured are the magnetic north pole locations from 1590 to 2030. BGS/UKRI/Wessel, P./W. H. F. Smith. Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter.

Magnetic North Pole locations from 1590 to 2030. Image: BGS, UKRI, and Wessel, P., and W. H. F. Smith (1996) A moving target. The Magnetic North Pole is completely different from the Geographic ...

When you think of the North Pole’s location, you probably imagine it is the centermost point at the top of our planet. However, the North Magnetic Pole has actually been moving gradually since ...

Compass needles in the Northern Hemisphere point toward the magnetic North Pole, although the exact location of it changes from time to time as the contours of Earth’s magnetic field also change.

Pictured are the magnetic north pole locations from 1590 to 2030. BGS/UKRI/Wessel, P./W. H. F. Smith. Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter.

Unlike the geographic North Pole, which marks a fixed location, the magnetic north pole’s position is determined by Earth’s magnetic field, which is in constant motion.

Unlike the geographic North Pole, which marks a fixed location, the magnetic north pole’s position is determined by Earth’s magnetic field, which is in constant motion.

Unlike the geographic North Pole, which marks a fixed location, the magnetic north pole’s position is determined by Earth’s magnetic field, which is in constant motion.

Unlike the geographic North Pole, which marks a fixed location, the magnetic north pole’s position is determined by Earth’s magnetic field, which is in constant motion.

By the 1940s, magnetic north had moved northwest from its 1831 position by about 250 miles (400 kilometers). In 1948, it reached Prince Wales Island, and by 2000 it had departed Canadian shores.