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.

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.

Earth’s magnetic north pole is different from the geographic North Pole. The latter (the so-called “True North”) directly points toward the geographic North Pole, a fixed point on the Earth ...

In mid-November 2024, several news outlets published articles claiming the magnetic North Pole was "moving toward Russia." Several Snopes readers wrote to ask us whether the reporting was true and ...

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.

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.