Everyone is confused about magnetism.

Magnetism. Geomagnetism. Biomagnetism. Lots of “isms” and not much expertise.

Even among feng shui practitioners there isn’t a lot of knowledge about a primary aspect of their work. What does a compass really do? Is it pointing at magnetic north?

Not exactly. The compass is aligning itself with the local manifestation of the planetary magnetic field in its horizontal aspect (the “local horizontal field”). Eventually the local horizontal field ends up at magnetic north but it’s not as important as what is happening where you are.

Here are some places where you can learn more about magnetism, compasses, and how everything works together.

Are you certain there is one magnetic pole? According to experts, “analyses carried out in the 1960s showed that up to 35 radial dipoles are necessary to model the [planetary magnetic] field with acceptable accuracy.”

And the pole moves about 85 kilometers a day. See The Inconstant Magnetic Field. The field fluctuates and flutters.

No, we’re not losing the magnetic field of Earth.
According to NOAA,

…the present dipole moment (a measure of how strong the magnetic field is) is actually higher than it has been for most of the last 50,000 years …

There is no conclusive evidence the field is reversing. If it was, there would be multiple magnetic fields, not an absence of them. See When North Goes South.

An introduction to magnetism.

See the geomagnetic field FAQ page.
Stuff from everyday life that uses magnetic fields.