A rare geological event occurs every 300,000 years or so: the Earth’s magnetic poles flip. The magnetic poles are the two ...

However, the magnetic north pole is moving faster than normal resulting in a new out of cycle release for the WMM. Normally, new WMM maps are released every five years, and the next release was ...

In general Earth’s magnetic field is getting weaker, leading scientists to say that it will eventually flip, where north and south pole changes polarity, like a bar magnet flipping over.

A map showing the movement of the magnetic north pole. The magnetic north pole of Earth moves over time depending on the motion of molten iron in the planet's core.

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.