Arctic ice cap to disappear in summer in years: study

The Catlin Arctic Survey team, led by explorer Pen Hadow, trekked through the northern part of the Beaufort Sea in the North Pole for 73 days earlier this year.

    Across their 450-km route, the team found that most of the ice in the region is first-year ice that is only around 1.8 meters deep and will melt next summer. The region usually has contained thicker multiyear ice that does not melt so quickly.

    "The Catlin Arctic Survey data supports the new consensus view... that the Arctic will be ice-free in summer within about 20 years, and that much of the decrease will be happening within 10 years." said Professor Peter Wadhams, head of the polar ocean physics group at Cambridge University in Britain; Kazinform cites Xinhua.

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