Last month, researchers said that this summer’s ice loss would probably not be as extensive as last year’s record melt.
But storms since then over Alaska’s Beaufort Sea have pulled streams of warm air into the Arctic.
Scientists won’t know if this summer’s melt has been more expansive than last year’s until the ice cover reaches its minimum in mid-September.
Professor Wieslaw Maslowski of the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., says it doesn’t matter which of the two years is the worst on record for Arctic ice.
“The crucial point is that ice is clearly not building up enough over winter to restore cover, and that when you combine current estimates of ice thickness with the extent of the ice cap, you get a very clear indication that the Arctic is going to be ice-free in summer in five years,” Maslowski said.
