Arctic will be "ice-free" in around 20 years

New research has supported the "consensus view" that the Arctic will be "ice-free" in summer within around 20 years, it has been asserted.

Professor Peter Wadhams from the University of Cambridge made his comments after his team analysed new findings from the Catlin Arctic Survey and WWF.

The research offers further evidence to suggest that the Arctic Ocean sea ice is thinning, showing that almost all of the survey area - a 450 km route along the northern stretch of the Beaufort Seas - is made up of first-year ice.

According to the team, which is sponsored by the European Climate Exchange, this is significant as the area has traditionally comprised thicker, multi-year ice.

"The Catlin Arctic Survey data supports the new consensus view - based on seasonal variation of ice extent and thickness, changes in temperatures, winds and especially ice composition - that the Arctic will be ice-free in summer within about 20 years," said Professor Wadhams.

Posted by Joseph Hutton