Since the early nineteenth century, the magnetic North Pole has been approaching the world’s largest nation.

The magnetic North Pole has been slowly moving toward Russia since the early 1800s, but recent shifts are baffle scientists around. According to the World Magnetic Model, the pole’s movement, which is caused by molten iron that is churning beneath the Earth, has decreased to about 15 miles per year, which is about 10 miles less than it was in 2020.

According to Dr. Ciarán Beggan of the British Geological Survey, “the magnetic pole has been moving very slowly around Canada for many centuries since the 1500s,” the Daily Mail reported. “In the past 20 years, it accelerated north towards Siberia, increasing speed every year until about five years ago, when it suddenly decelerated from 50 to 40km per year.”

“This is behaviour we’ve not observed ever before. It makes forecasting magnetic field change more difficult,” Dr. Beggan added, noting that this unpredictable movement contrasts with the south pole’s comparatively slow drift. “We don’t know really why there’s such differences between the hemispheres.”