Your navigation system just got a critical update, one that happens periodically because Earth’s magnetic north pole keeps moving. Here’s what to know.

An animation using data from the European Space Agency (ESA) allows you to "listen" to Earth's magnetic field being disrupted ...

"The current behaviour of magnetic north is something that we have never observed before," says global geomagnetic field modeller William Brown, from BGS. "Magnetic north has been moving slowly ...

We have known that the Earth has a magnetic field and magnetic poles since the 1600s. However, it took over 200 years to discover the exact position of the Magnetic North Pole. Advertisement ...

“Magnetic north has been moving slowly around Canada since the 1500s.” “in the past 20 years, it accelerated towards Siberia, increasing in speed every year until about five years ago…” ...

This means that the Sun’s north and south magnetic poles switch places. Then it takes about another 11 years for the Sun’s north and south poles to flip back again.” ...

And, as this position changes, so too does the North Pole’s location. Scientists say that the current direction of the pole’s movement is caused by a “blip in the pattern” of the flow ...

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.