Arctic sea ice melting is about to hit a record low by the end of the month, revealed a recent satellite data.According to lead scientists at the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center, by next week, Arctic sea ice may melt to its smallest size since data collection started in 1979. This summer, the ice cap could possibly shrink to 1.5 million square miles (4 million square km), bypassing the 2007 record off the Arctic ice cap shrinkage to 1.66 million square miles (4.28 million square km), reported lead scientist Ted Scambos.
"A new daily record... would be likely by the end of August, chances are it will cross the previous record while we are still in ice retreat," said Scambos.
Instead of the usual slowing down of snow melting in August, this year, the process has speeded up. A visibly worried Scambos averred "I doubt there's been another year that had as rapid an early August retreat."
While pointing out the reason for the rapid melting of Arctic snow, Scambos believes that these events are clear indications of climate change and global warming.
"Everything about this points in the same direction: we've made the Earth warmer," he said.
Not only Arctic, but, according to a recent NASA report, July's record-breaking heat hit Greenland so hard that almost all surface ice cover melted at twice the usual pace.
Three NASA satellites observed that starting July 8, this year Greenland had unprecedented meltdown over a widespread area for four days. According to the report, this is the largest meltdown noticed in more than 30 years of satellite observations.
