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.

The magnetic field is not something that is static. The Earth’s magnetosphere is being altered by the solar wind coming from the Sun. During periods of high activity, like now, it is squished ...

The designations of "north" and "south" on the magnetic field refer to their opposite polarities—they're not related to geographic north and south. The Earth's magnetosphere, a protective bubble ...

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.

Every half-million years or so, for unknown reasons, the earth's magnetic field suddenly flips. Within a period of 10,000 years—a mere instant on the geological time scale—the north ...

Physicists have also found other arrangements of magnetic poles, including quadrupoles, in which a combination of north and south magnetic poles are arranged in a square.

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.” ...

Further, physicists like Cohen say that the Earth’s magnetic field isn’t going to flip overnight. This is something that reverses on a time scale between 100,000 and 1,000,000 years.

As we approach solar maximum, something strange is happening to the sun's magnetic field. ... "It's not like the Earth, where the flip is measured by the migration of the North/South pole." ...

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.