Thinning Arctic sea ice alarms experts
Volume of Arctic sea ice last summer may have been lowest on record – and possibly worst in 8,000 yearsThe total volume of sea ice in the Arctic is likely to have reached a record low last summer, despite previous reports that the area of ice recovered slightly from the previous year's dramatic decline, leading experts have warned.The latest alarm about the fate of the Arctic sea ice, due to an unusually high proportion of thinner "first-year" ice, raises the prospect of an acceleration in the loss of ice during the warmer summer months, considered a key indicator of climate change.Adding to the concern, Nasa and the National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC)in the US today warned that even in the colder winter months sea ice is failing to recover substantially. The most recent winter maximum, reached on 28 February this year, was the fifth lowest since satellite records...
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