Scientists Predict Arctic Will Be Ice-Free By Summer 2050, So... We're All Screwed

The Arctic Will Be Ice-Free By 2050
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Whether or not you believe in the proven science that is global warming there are some pretty inconvenient truths that people will have to start accepting.

One of these is that from 2050 onwards there will be no Arctic ice during the summer. To give you some idea of how drastic a change that is here are some numbers:

At the moment, there is currently around 5.4 million km of ice in the Arctic, by Summer 2050 that will have been reduced to 0.

How do we know this? Well the University of Reading has developed an accurate new method for measuring how much ice is melting by analysing the 'melt ponds' that appear on the surface.

The record low so far has been 3.4 million km in 2012 which was drastically lower than the 1981-2010 average which stayed at a fairly steady 6.5 million km.

Interestingly this year has actually seen a slow down in the melting process due to cooler temperatures which have caused thicker ice formations.

Speaking to ITN, Professor Daniel Feltham from the University of Reading explains why 'melt ponds' are so vital to understanding the process.

"Melt ponds are crucial to the speed of the annual ice melt, as the dark water on the surface absorbs more energy from the sun than the white ice, which reflects much of it back into space."