Arctic ice cap 'melts to smallest ever size'

Last updated at 17:41 22 September 2007


A record amount of Arctic sea ice melted this summer, scientists said yesterday.

The ice cap shrank by 386,100 square miles - an area four times as large as the UK - from the previous low in 2005.

It left the ice covering an area of just 1.59million square miles, U.S. researchers said.

"It's the biggest drop from a previous record that we've ever had and it's really quite astounding," said Walt Meier, from the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Centre.

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Ice caps melting

He blamed the melting sea ice on conditions created by global warming.

The record low was recorded in satellite photographs on Sunday.

Parts of the sea have already begun to freeze again as summer draws to an end.

Melting sea ice, unlike the melting glaciers of Greenland and Antarctica, does not contribute to sea levels rising, much as an ice cube in a glass of water does not make the level of liquid rise when it melts.

However, the less ice there is, the more dark water there is to absorb the sun's rays, which could contribute to global warming.

The director of Greenpeace, John Sauven, said: "At this rate we could see the end of summer sea ice in our lifetimes."

He described global warming as a "planetary emergency" and called on governments to work harder to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions.

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