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Leading
American ice scientists say there is a fifty percent possibility that
the North Pole will experience its first ice-free summer.
The possibility of a total polar meltdown is higher than ever and the weather and ocean conditions are not promising, said a senior researcher at the National Snow and Ice Data Center and the University of Colorado, Mark Serreze.
"A large area at the North Pole and surrounding the North Pole is first-year ice. That's the stuff that tends to melt out in the summer because it's thin," he said.
The Arctic ice meltdown set a record last year and the ice band surrounding the North Pole is even thinner now, AP reported.
Cecilia Bitz from the University of Washington has put the odds of an
ice-free North Pole closer to 1 in 4 and believes it is just a matter
of time.
"I would guess within the next 10 years it would happen at least once," she said.
Based on the figures from the National Snow and Ice Data Center the
Arctic sea ice as a whole is at about the same level as it was at its
low point last year in late June and early July. Scientists say this is
an evidence of a warming climate and a weather phenomenon.
Meltdown/n./:
melting down of the radioactive core in a nuclear reactor because of insufficient cooling that leads to the escape of radiation
Promise/v./:
pledge, give one's word, vow, commit oneself to a certain course of action
Tend/v./:
be inclined, be disposed; care for, watch over
Surround/v./:
encompass, enclose; encircle
Phenomenon/n./:
event or circumstance that can be observed
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