Rapid Arctic Melt Worries Scientists

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Evidence of an increase in the melting speed of the Arctic over the summer drew the attention and concern of scientists, who viewed the discovery as a sign that global warming has reached an alarming rate.

The discovery of the melt acceleration in the region has led experts to draw drastic predictions, such as the complete vanishing of the summer sea ice in the span of five years.

Measurements revealed that the melting of the Greenland ice sheet is 10 percent more this year than last year, and has brought about a lift in global sea levels by two one-hundredths of an inch.

Data from NASA satellites also showed that the volume of the ice at the end of the summer was half of what was measured four years ago, according to the AP.

"The Arctic is screaming," declared Mark Serreze, a senior scientist at the snow and ice data center located in Boulder, Colorado.

Jay Zwally, a NASA climate scientist, drew from his studies the prediction that "the Arctic Ocean could be nearly ice-free at the end of summer by 2012."

The Houston Chronicle quoted Konrad Steffen of the University of Colorado, who noted the Arctic melting as "the equivalent of two of all the ice in the Alps or a layer of water more than one-half mile deep covering Washington, D.C."

Experts are attempting to surmise if the recorded increase in melting is a sign of the continuous increase in climate, or a result of a completely new climate cycle that signals a situation far worse than those predicted.

"The Arctic is often cited as the canary in the coal mine for climate warming," explained Zwally. "Now as a sign of climate warming, the canary has died. It is time to start getting out of the coal mines."