Scientists have been forced to take action after the movement of the Earth's Magnetic North Pole began picking up speed.

The pole has always been on the move, however in recent years it has picked up speed and it now moving quickly away from the Canadian Arctic towards Siberia.

The irregular movement has caused scientists in the US and UK to update the World Magnetic Model (WMM) - which is essential for military and civilian navigation in the Arctic.

The WMM is normally updated every five years, however the speed of change has forced the release of a new model " to more accurately represent the change of the magnetic field between 2015 and now."

The next scheduled update was due for release in 2019.

Chief Officer Harri Venalainen navigates the icebreaker MSV Nordica through the Beaufort Sea while traversing the Arctic's Northwest Passage, 16-07-2017. Image:  David Goldman/AP/Press Association Images

Mid-cycle update

The US National Centres for Environmental Information (NCEI) said the update will "ensure safe navigation for military applications, commercial airlines, search and rescue operations, and others operating around the North Pole."

Ciaran Beggan, geophysicist at the British Geological Survey in Edinburgh, told The Guardian newspaper that the magnetic pole has hung around northern Canada for hundreds of years.

He said it was moving "perhaps tens of kilometres, back and forth" until the 1900's.

"But in the past 50 years it started to move north and in the past 30 years it started to accelerate away,” he said.

"It went from moving at about five to 10km a year to 50 or 60km a year today.

"It’s now moving rapidly towards Siberia."

World Magnetic Model reboot keeps GPS, navigation on right path https://t.co/D0D5u49jwe

— NOAA (@NOAA) February 4, 2019

Liquid outer core

The pole's travels are believed to be the result of a narrow stream in the Earth's liquid outer core.

The super-hot iron-nickel core, located 3,000km beneath the planet's surface creates the Earth's magnetic field.

The Magnetic South Pole is moving slower than its northern counterpart.

Polar flip

Scientists believe the Earth may be heading towards a flip with the north and south poles reversing - something that last happened around 780,000 years ago.

In addition to its military uses the WMM is used by US Government organisation like NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration and the US Forest Service.

Smartphones and consumer electronics use it to provide accurate compass apps, maps, and GPS services.

Compasses use declination - the difference between true north and where your compass points - to correct navigation systems for a wide variety of uses.