Earth’s magnetic north is not static. Like an anchorless buoy pushed by ocean waves, the magnetic field is constantly on the move as liquid iron sloshes around in the planet’s outer core.

It is known to those who have devoted attention to thejiip of the magnetic needle ... The regular inclination or dip of the needle, which is now decreasing, will reach its minimum, Hansteen ...

But the weakened magnetic field within the anomaly allows these particles to dip closer to the surface than normal. The region can be hazardous for NASA's low-Earth orbit satellites and spacecraft ...