Yeah, it looks like we will have to explain to our grandchildren what a Polar bear used to be, when the time comes. Now it seems we have to start with our kids first.
In 2007, summer melting of the Arctic sea ice is expected to set a record low by the end of September, as data for the 8th of August seem to indicate.
Measurements made by the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) have revealed that the Arctic ice surface on 8th of August was about 30% under the long-term average. As the annual Arctic melting season lasts
until the middle of September, it's hard to believe a record won't be set this year.
An American research has already forecast ice-free Arctic summers by 2040.
NSIDC data revealed sea ice extent for 8 August as 5.8m sq km (2.2m sq miles), while in the period 1979-2000 in August, the value was of 7.7m sq km (3.0m sq miles). The current record low occurred in 2005, when Arctic sea ice had in September an area of just 5.32m sq km (2.09m sq miles).
"If you look at data for the first week in August, we are way below what we saw in 2005. So unless something really changes, for example the Arctic suddenly becomes a lot colder, it is going to be hard not to beat the previous record." explained Mark Serreze, a senior research scientist at the NSIDC.
"It is very likely that sea ice cover in the polar region is starting to respond to human induced climate change, resulting from a greater concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. We know that natural climate variability can strongly influence the sea ice, but I think we are starting to see a positive feedback now. In other words, we cannot explain everything that we have seen just through natural processes." he added.
"Overall, the pattern will be that you melt a little bit more during the summer and you grow back a little less during the winter," he told BBC News.
Researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), the University of Washington and McGill University, showed that "positive feedbacks" speed the melting of the Arctic ice.
Sea ice has a high albedo, reflecting 80% of the sunlight back into space. But as the reflecting surface is melting, more of the dark ocean water is exposed. But this surface absorbs 90% of the received sun energy, further speeding the melting rate.
This mechanism will devastate the Arctic wildlife, from polar bears, which traverse ice-floes in search of food, to seals, whales and birds.
On a global scale, the ice loss will further accelerate climatic changes.
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