BEIJING, Aug. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- Arctic sea ice has seen its second largest summer shrinkage due to the effects of global warming since satellite observations began 30 years ago, U.S. scientists said Wednesday as reported in mediaz reports.
The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) reported that sea ice in the Arctic now covers about 2.03 million square miles (about 5.36 million square kilometers), just below the 2.05 million square miles (about 5.32 million square kilometers) observed on Sept. 21, 2005, making it the second biggest summer Arctic ice-cap melt in history.
This figure is already below the long-term average for September ice cover and because the ice traditionally reaches its minimum level in mid-September, researchers warned that a new low might be recorded within weeks.
NASA scientist James Hansen called what is happening in the Arctic a "tipping point," and said the sea ice melt "is the best current example" of that.
"We could have no ice at the North Pole at the end of this summer. And the reason here is that the North Pole area right now is covered with very thin ice, and this ice we call 'first-year ice,' the ice that tends to melt out in the summer," NSIDC glaciologist Mark Serreze explained.
Serrreze said the possibility the ice cap could vanish stand at 50 percent.
If it does happen in September, he added, "it's possible that ships could sail from Alaska right to the North Pole."
The Arctic has been free of ice in the geologic history of the Earth, but never in modern history, Serreze said.
"Clearly, if you look over what we have seen in the past three years and where we were headed, we are in ... this long-term decline and we may have no ice at all in the Arctic Ocean in summer by 2030 or so," he added.
Arctic sea ice is sometimes dubbed Earth's air conditioner for its ability to moderate world climate. In the last decade, this ice has declined by roughly 10 percent.
(Agencies)
