Sea ice in Arctic at record low level

The amount of sea ice in the Arctic has fallen to the lowest level on record,a confirmation of the drastic warming in the region.

Satellites tracking the extent of the sea ice found over the weekend that it covered about 1.58 million square miles,or less than 30 per cent of the Arctic Ocean’s surface,scientists said. That is only slightly below the previous record low,set in 2007,but with weeks still to go in the summer melting season,it is clear that the record will be beaten by a wide margin.

The National Snow and Ice Data Centre,a government-sponsored research agency,announced the findings with NASA. The amount of sea ice in the summer has declined over 40 per cent since satellite tracking began in the late 1970s,a trend primarily a consequence human released greenhouse gases.