Arctic summer ice steadily shrinking

Arctic summer ice cover is constantly shrinking in the wake of climate change and global warming. By the end of August this year, Arctic summer sea ice covered only an area below 4-million sq. km. This means that the record set on Sept. 18, 2007 with a 4.17-million sq.-km has already been broken, and we are talking about the smallest minimum ice extent that was ever recorded in Arctic.

The scientists fear that this year's extreme melting of Arctic ice is only the beginning of the trend that will lead to Arctic being free of summer ice within the next 25-30 years, much sooner than it was previously thought.

The loss of Arctic summer ice will have serious consequences for our future wellbeing. Arctic ice helps regulate the climate by reflecting the sunlight, and therefore cooling the climate. No ice would cause more moisture from the oceans to enter the atmosphere which would lead to more powerful and much more frequent storms. This increase in storm frequency and storm intensity will likely affect most of the world's populated places, leading to massive damages.

Arctic has already lost much of its thick (older) ice that would remain throughout the summer. Thirty years ago the ratio between thick, older ice and seasonal ice (ice that would melt away in the summer) was about 80 % older and 20% seasonal. Today, due to the rapidly growing global warming impact this ratio has almost reversed.

Also, there are huge quantities of organic carbon locked away as frozen plant matter in the big permafrost region of the Arctic, meaning that the further melting of Arctic ice could result in even more carbon emission being emitted in the atmosphere, leading to an even worse climate change impact.

Arctic is first in line when it comes to climate change impact. We sadly keep forgetting that climate change impact won't stop at Arctic but will spread further to an entire planet because we are talking about global phenomenon that will only increase in power and magnitude.

Increased forest cover doesn't always mean better carbon storage

The currently dominant opinion is that the more forests we plant the more carbon it will be stored. This is true in most cases but not always as the latest study by the University of Exeter shows.

Dr Iain Hartley from the University of Exeter argues that the fact that Arctic is becoming more and greener isn't beneficial for climate change because the carbon stored in Arctic tundra could be released into the atmosphere by new trees growing in the warmer region, which could exacerbate climate change impact even further.

The greening usually results in more carbon dioxide (CO2) being sink from the atmosphere, therefore helping to reduce the impact of climate change but this is not the case with Arctic tundra.

The expansion of forest into Arctic tundra could stimulate decomposition rates in soils leading to significant release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Tundras are specific because their soil contains plenty of stored organic matter, due to slow decomposition, and the new trees stimulate the decomposition of this matter leading to more release of CO2 into the atmosphere.

The scientists believe that Arctic soils currently store more carbon than is present in the atmosphere and so the release of this stored carbon could have devastating impact on climate change.

The role of soil conditions is yet to be fully understood in climate change equation. By the current looks of it planting new trees in Arctic tundra doesn’t look to be beneficial for climate change, in fact, it could lead to more bad climate change news. It is up to science to determine whether this pattern is confined strictly to Arctic or not.

Arctic shows that the climate change is real

Arctic is intensely feeling the heat of climate change. In fact, Arctic is warming faster than any other place on our planet. The latest data suggests that the 2011 was the warmest year on record with average Arctic temperatures 2.28 degrees Celsius (4.1 degrees Fahrenheit) higher compared to those measured in period from 1951-1980.

The highest recorded temperatures have also lead to an all time low Arctic ice cover. The rapid loss of Arctic ice has been measured by researchers and they say that the ice cover on Arctic has declined by staggering 76 percent from 1979 (16,855 cubic kilometers) to 2011 (4,017 cubic kilometers).

The ever-warming Arctic spells the danger for entire planet because researchers believe that the region could soon hit climatic tipping points that could severely affect the rest of the world.

The loss of sea ice is already having devastating effect on Arctic's ecosystems resulting in decline of many animal species such as polar bears and walruses.

One of the recent studies has even connected this year's cold winter in Europe with the loss of Arctic's ice cover and many researchers also believe that massive blizzards that stroke the U.S. in 2009 and 2010 were also connected with increased melting of Arctic.

The thawing of Arctic's permafrost is also raising serious concerns because of the huge amounts of greenhouse gases trapped in the permafrost. If these gases get released they have potential to equal the amount of greenhouse gases currently emitted by deforestation worldwide.

The melting of Arctic's ice should be of real concern to world leaders but instead of worrying about the global environmental impact of Arctic' ice melting they seem to be more occupied with plans to expand oil and gas exploitation, create new shipping routes, and increase mining and other industry in this ecologically sensitive area.

Climate change – Current outlook and research

Arctic’s see summer ice has experienced the new record low according to the European scientists. Since the measurement first started back in 1972 Arctic ice never covered such a small amount of area as it did this year, at only 4.24 million square kilometers. The second lowest year at record was 2007 when Arctic's summer ice covered an area of 4.27 million square kilometers.

The US scientists from the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) have calculated that the rate of melting in Arctic is now twice as big as it was first measured back in 1972.

At the same time the international team of scientists led by Stephen Barker of Cardiff University has studied the samples from Greenland's ice sheets. According to these samples climate is very capable to create rapid and abrupt changes because this has been a case of Earth's climate for hundreds of thousands of years.

In other climate news US scientists have also discovered that the polar ice caps currently are melting rapidly and that the sea level is rising at a rate of about 30 centimeters per century. If the current warming trend continues this will in years to come create huge threat to world's population that lives in coastal zones.

It is still impossible to predict future climate because of large number of different factors all of which need to be taken into account while making future climate predictions, not to mention that there is also a very complex interaction between these factors which makes future climate models even more difficult.

But science is at least trying, measuring, collecting various data and samples all in hope to provide world leaders with possible solutions that would halt the impact of climate change. Climate change is the biggest environmental threat of our time, an environmental threat that could even in the worst possible scenario threaten the existence of our future generations.

Soot emissions - Important factor in global warming

Soot emission (black carbon emission) refers to dust-like carbon particles resulting from the incomplete combustion of a hydrocarbon and is one of the most important factors adding to a global warming and climate change.

American chemist Mark Z. Jacobson, Ph.D. believes that reducing soot emissions could significantly slow down melting of Arctic's sea ice.

He, in fact, believes that controlling soot and reducing soot emissions would reduce warming above parts of the Arctic Circle by almost 3 degrees Fahrenheit within the next 15 years. This scenario would be enough for Arctic to experience the temperatures of 100 years ago and erase all the warming that has happened since that time.

This is the quickest fix to Arctic's melting issue that could have an almost immediate effect. Soot emissions are the second most contributing factor to climate change behind carbon dioxide. Up to recently soot has been largely overlooked in climate models though soot emissions contribute to around 17 percent of global warming.

The major sources of soot emissions include exhaust from different diesel vehicles, agricultural machines, and also the wood/animal dung fires that hundreds of millions of people in developing countries use for cooking and heating.

Soot particles once released into atmosphere become suspended and absorb sunlight and then radiate that heat back into the air around it. Not only that, soot can also add to warming by absorbing the light reflected from Earth's surface.

Jacobson believes that implementing technologies for controlling soot emissions is lot easier compared to technologies that aim to reduce carbon emissions because the costs are much lower. For instance, diesel particulate filters, can remove soot from car and truck exhaust.

Not only that, soot doesn't stay for a very long time in atmosphere like carbon dioxide does. Soot disappears within a few weeks while carbon dioxide remains in the atmosphere for years.

A decade long period of stability for Arctic's summer sea ice?

The large number of climate change scientists agree that the Arctic ice will eventually disappear completely during summer months if climate change continues at current pace. Some believe such scenario will very likely happen before the year 2050.

The several different studies have showed that in the last thirty years Arctic summer ice has shrunk by more than a third driven by unusual warm climate which cannot be only explained by natural causes.

One of the most interesting recent studies about the melting of Arctic ice comes from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). According to this study the Arctic ice may temporarily stabilize or even somewhat expand at times over the next few decades.

This was a rather interesting conclusion and the scientists were somewhat surprised by the results of computer simulations which showed a temporary stop to the loss of the Arctic ice.

The results of computer simulations showed that Arctic could well see a 10-year period of stable ice or even a slight increase in the expansion of the ice.

However, long-term speaking we are still in for a total loss of Arctic's summer sea ice. One of the leading NCAR scientist Jennifer Kay said that "when you start looking at longer-term trends, 50 or 60 years, there's no escaping the loss of Arctic's ice in the summer."

Arctic losing fight against climate change

Climate change is being particularly felt in Arctic where ice is melting rapidly. The melting of the Arctic will not only significantly increase global sea levels but will also very likely accelerate global climate change impact. This is because there are huge quantities of organic carbon locked away as frozen plant matter in the big permafrost region of the Arctic, and the rapid melting of Arctic ice could very soon (within the next 20 years) lead to an irreversible climate "tipping point".

This locked carbon, mostly in form of frozen leaves and roots remained frosted for thousands of years but once released could lead to a real catastrophe.

According to the latest study by the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre in Boulder, Colorado, the irreversible tipping point, at which Arctic will stop being absorber of carbon dioxide and become completely the opposite, a source that will speed up the global warming, will likely occur between 2020 and 2030.

This study also predicts that by 2200 about two-thirds of the Earth's permafrost will likely melt resulting in estimated 190 billion tons of carbon dioxide and methane emissions, which is roughly half of all the fossil fuel emissions of greenhouse gases in the last 300 years.

The worst part in the whole story is the fact that once the frozen carbon thaws out and decays, there is no way to put it back into the permafrost, and it can only end up in atmosphere, giving more boost to global warming.

The Arctic is already feeling the negative consequences of climate change, summer ice is at record lows, the temperatures are higher than ever, and many native animals species such as polar bears are already finding it extremely hard to survive.

There is still no sign of new international climate deal, and there is no adequate emission reduction strategies to prevent further strengthening of climate change impact.

The Arctic may well become the main battleground that will decide the outcome in our fight against climate change. At this moment climate change is a clear favorite.

Why is climate change having negative impact on polar bears?

Polar bears have over the years become negative symbol for climate change, and the most obvious negative impact of climate change in reference to polar bears has certainly been the rapid loss of ice in polar areas.

Polar bears depend on ice not only for hunting prey (because early melting of the ice makes it more difficult for the bears to hunt seals successfully) but also for successful breeding.

The latest study by the researchers from the University of Alberta has showed that rapid loss of ice cover has very negative impact on breeding because females are hunting seals on the ice to gather enough energy for the autumn and winter when they will hibernate for up to eight months and give birth.

Less ice means less prey, and less prey means less energy, which in the ends results in fewer cubs.

The scientists calculated that if the ice melts up two months earlier than in the 1990s, there is a 55 to a full 100% chance that all pregnant female polar bears will not have a single cub.

Researchers usually study Hudson Bay polar bear population, and this was also the case in this study. The researchers have calculated that if spring break up in Hudson Bay comes one month earlier than in the 1990s, there is a 40 to 73% chance that pregnant female polar bears will not give birth to a single cub.

Hudson Bay polar bear population currently counts around 900 individuals, down from 1200 individuals a decade ago. The total number of polar bears across the entire Arctic is estimated at around 20,000.

The equation is pretty simple, namely less ice equals less polar bears. Judging by the current levels (Arctic sea ice was at its lowest ever level this January), things are certainly not looking good for polar bears in years to come.

Arctic ice could even recover?

Many scientists support the thesis that once temperatures reach "tipping point" then the climate change will eventually push the Arctic's ice towards the total melting, meaning that Arctic summer ice would completely disappear.

Among scientists who do not agree with this opinion is Steven Amstrup, a professor at the University of Washington. Professor Amstrup in his recent study concluded that "There is no 'tipping point' that would result in unstoppable loss of summer sea ice when greenhouse gas-driven warming rose above a certain threshold".

The most recent reports claim that Arctic ice has shrank by close to 20 percent in the last few decades, and many scientists are worried that if the current warming trend (regional temperature at Arctic has in the same period increased twice or triple the global average) at Arctic continues in years to come Arctic will become totally free of ice during summer months.

Professor Amstrup has based his study on computer models, and his study showed that if annual emissions of greenhouse gases are significantly reduced over the next twenty years, an initial phase of rapid ice loss would afterward be replaced by a period of stability and, eventually, partial recovery.

This would in the best possible scenario mean that polar bears might actually get a decent chance to survive because after some time Arctic could recover enough ice, which would give polar bears more habitat needed to stop the further population decline.

Many polar bears are dying of hunger because the ice has started melting much sooner in the spring which has significantly shortened their hunting season. World needs to do something fast or Arctic' largest predator will soon come to the very brink of the extinction.

Cancun climate talks have showed certain positive outlook but world needs to transform this into legally obliging international climate deal. This shouldn't be done only to protect polar bears from extinction but also to ensure our future generations healthy planet, free of environmental disasters such as droughts, floods, sea level rise, etc.

Heavy melting of Arctic ice continues

Arctic sea ice is still experiencing a heavy melting, in fact according to the latest report Arctic sea ice melted from a winter maximum of about 15 million square kilometers to a September coverage area of just five million square kilometers, which represents the third biggest melting since satellite monitoring began about 30 years ago. Not only that, this data also means that the four greatest ice melts since the satellite measurements began in the late 1970s have occurred in the past four years, a clear sign of climate change.

What this also means is that the recent claims that the Arctic sea ice is recovering and getting thicker again are far from the reality, and that heavy melting trend is still on.

It is well known fact that Arctic ice reaches its minimum in mid-September, and the 2007 was remembered as the year with the least ice cover in the recorded history, little more than four million square kilometers. Last few years continued this trend, and none of them was nowhere close the 30-year average minimum of about seven million square kilometers.

Even despite these alarming numbers world leaders still fail to agree on new climate deal, and global CO2 emissions are not decreasing, meaning that the melting trend will continue in years to come.

If current trend of ice melting continues in years to come (and there's 99% chance it will) Arctic will soon become ice free during the summer months. This is because old, thick ice is disappearing and is replaced by younger and thinner ice, which takes very little to melt during the summer months.

No ice in summer months would probably cause massive increase in ship traffic in Arctic area as once-frozen shipping lanes become unlocked. The increased ship traffic could cause tremendous damage to sensitive Arctic's ecosystems. Like climate change alone is not enough.

Climate change in Arctic - Quick facts

In the last three decades, the Arctic ice has shrunk by about 10% a decade, which is around 28,000 square miles each year.

Polar bears are particularly vulnerable to climate change, and the loss of Arctic's ice. Polar bears have experinced significant decline in population in the last couple of years, and some scientists estimate that if current trend continues polar bears will become extinct before the end of this century.

Due to ever-increasing climate change impact many unique Arctic habitats for flora and fauna are disappearing. For instance we can already see tundra ecosystems being replaced by species typical of more southern locations, such as evergreen shrubs in some locations due to warmer temperatures. Some studies have even showed that the Arctic region was getting darker and absorbing more heat in the summer because of a significant shift in plant growth from grasses and lichen to larger shrubs over the past 30 years due to warmer temperatures.

Some recent studies have confirmed that surface temperatures over much of the Arctic landscape, have jumped six to 10 degrees C above normal in recent years, especially in summer months. One of the main reasons for this is the loss of reflective, white sea ice which causes more solar radiation to be absorbed by the dark water, heating surface layers further.

Additional reason to worry is the fact that the accelerated warming of the Arctic area will soon release more greenhouse gases from the Arctic that were previously locked in permanently frozen ground.

Arctic ice is not getting enough time to thicken because accelerated warming causes the surface water to get warmer, which delays the onset of freeze up in the winter and leads to a shorter period of ice growth.

Many studies have so far confirmed that nearly all Arctic's glaciers are decreasing in mass, resulting in rising sea levels.

In summer of 2008, for the first time in recorded history, both the north-west and north-east passages were ice-free.

The worst ice decline at Arctic was in the summer of 2007 when ice covered only 4.4m square kilometres.

Arctic ice - Current condition

What is the current condition with Arctic's ice? Well, the latest report coming from an international science team led by Ohio State University says that less ice covers the Arctic today than at any time in recent geologic history, a clear sign of ongoing climate change.

This study should be noted trustworthy because researchers have compiled the first comprehensive history of Arctic ice by re-examining the data from past and ongoing studies (around 300 different studies), and combining their results to form a big-picture view of the North pole’s climate history stretching back millions of years.

Leonid Polyak, a research scientist at Byrd Polar Research Center at Ohio State University said that "the ice loss that we see today is the ice loss that started in the early 20th Century and accelerated during the last 30 years, appears to be unmatched over at least the last few thousand years.

He also added that the newest satellite techniques and field observations allow scientists to see that the volume of ice is shrinking much faster than its area today, and that this is the sign for worry.

If we want to stop losing so much ice cover at Arctic then the world needs to significantly reduce carbon emissions. Climate talks at Copenhagen failed miserably showing yet again how little we care about our planet.

Ignorance won't be enough in this case because climate change is the biggest environmental problem in our history. If only politicians would understand this...

Climate change not the biggest factor responsible for Arctic ice melting?

Arctic sea ice has been shrinking rapidly in the last few decades, and this has lead to popular belief among many climate change scientists that Arctic region has already passed a climate tipping point, meaning that even bigger loss of sea ice is expected in years to come, and that very soon Arctic ocean could be ice-free during the summer months.

The latest study by Masayo Ogi, a scientist with the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology in Yokohama, and her colleagues does not question that climate change also played important role in Arctic sea ice loss but that there is one factor that could be even more important in explaining loss of Arctic sea ice. That factor are Arctic winds.

Ogi and her colleagues found that changes in Arctic wind patterns, such as summertime winds that blow clockwise around the Beaufort Sea, seemed to coincide with years where sea ice loss was highest, and that the ice blown out of the region by Arctic winds can explain around one-third of the Arctic sea ice loss trend in the last 30 years.

Arctic winds could be one of the major factors responsible for the loss of Arctic sea ice in the last 30 years.

The power of these winds has increased recently, and this could explain the current trend of decline in the areal coverage of Arctic summer sea ice.

In the last 30 years, the Arctic ice has shrunk by about 10% a decade, which is around 28,000 square miles each year. The ice reaches its minimum coverage each September, when it begins to expand as the freezing Arctic winter takes hold.

According to this study both winter and summer winds could have been responsible for blowing ice out of the Arctic in the last 30 years. Other factors were also responsible for loss of Arctic sea ice, like increased temperatures of air and ocean.

Climate change at Arctic - How to stop it?

The signs of climate change look to be increasing each year, and the most obvious sign looks to be Arctic. In fact many scientists agree that if we want to look for evidence on climate change we shouldn't be looking it further than Arctic. Rising temperatures at Arctic cause ice melting and retreating at very fast pace, in fact if this trend continues in years to come Arctic could become ice free by the end of this century, if not even before. Climate change that is happening at Arctic is only indicator of what will happen to our entire planet in years to come, unless we do something about it. Climate change has the potential to significantly change conditions on our planet and create global environmental disaster.

Arctic sea ice disappearing fast

Lately there has been number of different studies covering rapid decline of ice cover on Arctic. All these studies agree that Arctic is losing ice more rapidly than expected, and latest of these studies suggest how the areas of the Arctic covered in sea ice in summers will shrink by two-thirds within the next 30 years.

Scientists have calculated that area covered by summer sea ice will experience decline from about 2.8 million square miles normally to 620,000 square miles, this is about four-fifths the size of the continental U.S. According to data gathered from National Snow and Ice Data Center last year's summer minimum was 1.8 million square miles in September, which is second lowest only behind 2007 which had a minimum of 1.65 million square miles of ice cover. Upcoming years are very likely to produce even lower data.

There is no doubt that Arctic is rapidly losing its ice, and decline in ice cover is happening even faster than scientists have predicted. Arctic ice is reacting fast to global warming and increased temperatures, and this is trend that will have much bigger impact in years to come. Temperatures are becoming more warmer which makes impossible conditions for ice to regrowth, and therefore Arctic is losing more and more of its ice cover.

Condition at Arctic is already alarming. As researchers reported: "Due to the recent loss of sea ice, the 2005-2008 autumn central Arctic surface air temperatures were greater than 5 degrees Celsius (9 degrees Fahrenheit) above". Scientists not so long ago expected such a temperature increase somewhere around 2070. This is difference bigger than 60 years. Does this also mean that previous calculations how Arctic will loss its ice by the end of this century were also so much wrong, and that Arctic will lose all of its ice within the next 30 years? There is really nothing left that could surprise me anymore, and our Arctic refrigerator could soon stop working.

Arctic refrigerator is term often used to describe Arctic's refrigerator's effect on our planet because the Arctic's sea ice helps cool the planet by reflecting the sun's radiation back into space, as there would be less and less ice, the sun's warmth would instead be absorbed by the open water, contributing to warmer water and air temperatures. This will of course give more impact to global warming.

This study was result of joint efforts by NOAA's Climate Change Program Office, the University of Washington's Institute for the Study of the Ocean and Atmosphere, and the U.S. Department of Energy.

Arctic melting - Countries more interested in resources than fighting climate change

Arctic ice cap is melting rapidly due to the global warming. But countries instead putting serious efforts to fight against climate change and global warming are more concerned to obtain share of natural resources such as oil, gas, minerals that are now more exposed because of melting. Countries like Russia, USA, Canada, Norway and now EU are focusing to exploit natural resources on Arctic rather than doing something that would stop current ice melting rate.

As the polar ice melts more and more new shipping lanes are opening exposing valuable natural resources. Involved countries are interested in claiming as much territory as possible by offering different evidence that some part of the territory legally belongs to them ( Denmark for instance is gathering scientific evidence to show that the Lomonosov Ridge, a 1,240-mile underwater mountain range, is part of the Greenland, geological extension of the island that belongs to them).

It is really same old story once again. When there's a need for serious action to save our planet from global warming and climate change all we have is lot of talk and no action, and when there is a chance of exploiting natural resources nobody waits, and action is everywhere. Once again world has showed its greedy face, face that could cost us dearly in years to come.

Arctic temperatures at record highs

Tempearatures measured this autumn in Arctic are at record highs which shows the seriousness of global warming problem. Air tempearatures this autumn in Arctic were approximately 9 degrees Fahrenheit above normal, the highest ever measured, and this year's sea ice melt was second only to extremely warm 2007.

The Arctic ocean is becoming warmer, and also less salty because of sea melting which has negative effect on many ecosystems, pushing many species to the very edge of extinction. This report was compiled by 46 scientists from ten different countries after carefully studying atmosphere, sea ice, Greenland, ocean, biology and land in Arctic. What they find is a overall warming trend that is getting worse because very little has been done in the last few years to curb greenhouse gas emissions responsible for global warming.

Arctic autumn temperatures are at record highs

All is interconnected;rising temperatures are melting much more ice, therefore enabling more solar heating of the ocean. Warming of the air and ocean affects both land as well as marine ecosystems since it changes shape of their habitats primarily by reducing the amount of winter sea ice that can last into the following summer.

Arctic is very sensitive area, especially vulnerable to global warming which is what makes Arctic excellent indicator of current global warming condition. As we can see news are anything but good, but what is even worse is the fact that top emitting countries haven't done nothing to notably decrease their greenhouse gas emissions, on the contrary many of these countries are showing signs of increase in emissions instead of decrease. If this condition continues things will soon become much worse, not only in Arctic, but everywhere on our planet.

Arctic ice reacting fast to global warming

Due to unusually high air temperatures and reduced sea ice conditions Arctic is rapidly losing its ice. Warmer temperatures, if they continue, will completely change the Arctic area, and in not so far future Arctic could lose all its ice. The latest warning was chunk of ice shelf nearly the size of Manhattan that has broken away from Ellesmere Island in Canada's northern Arctic, totalling the summer's ice shelf loss to alarming 82 square miles.

And as the temperatures are becoming warmer and warmer ice has no real chance for regrowth. This of course will influence life of many ecosystems that are dependent of ice and could lead to extinction of many species. Ancient sea ice is losing its battle against man made global warming, and polar frontier is dramatically changing.

Case of the 4,500-year-old Markham Ice Shelf that separated in early August with 19-square-mile shelf drifting in the Arctic Ocean was shocking surprise even to scientists. Even they could not believe how fast is Arctic ice sheet changing. And if the current climate trend continues there will be much more shocking surprises, and eventually Arctic will lose all of its ice sheet. This is scary, but unfortunately also a very likely scenario.

Arctic is suffering huge ice shelf's loss

Arctic ice still melting despite cold winter

The thickest and oldest ice on North Pole is still melting despite cold winter. Though this winter was colder than average in many areas of the North Pole, decline of older sea ice still hasn't slow down its worrying rate. Thickness of the ice is long-term indicator of ice condition and this condition doesn't look good at this time.

This is consequence of ever-increasing climate change and unusually high temperatures caused by global warming. The only good news (if this can be called good news) is the fact that melting of Arctic ice doesn't increase sea level like melting of ice on Antarctica, but it does contribute to global warming since reflective white ice once melted is replaced by dark water that absorbs the sun's heat.

Walt Meier of the National Snow and Ice Data Center told that " some 965,300 square miles of perennial ice have been lost -- about one and a half times the area of Alaska -- a 50 percent decrease between February 2007 and February 2008 and the oldest "tough as nails" perennial ice has decreased by about 75 percent this year, losing 579,200 square miles (1.5 million sq km, or about twice the area of Texas".

And according to NASA-processed microwave data, whereas perennial ice used to cover 50-60 percent of the Arctic, this year it covers less than 30 percent. Very old ice that remains in the Arctic for at least six years comprised over 20 percent of the Arctic area in the mid to late 1980s, but this winter it decreased to just six percent.

Serious warning is there, but where is the appropriate action?

Arctic ice still melting at rapid level