Arctic ice bigger than 2007, but thawing long-term

OSLO (Reuters) – Arctic sea ice is unlikely to shrink below a 2007 record low this year in a reprieve from the worst predictions of climate change even though new evidence confirms a long-term thaw is under way, experts said.

The 2007 record raised worries of a melt that could leave the North Pole ice-free this year, threaten indigenous hunters and thaw ice vital for creatures such as polar bears. It would also help open the Arctic to shipping and oil and gas firms.

“Most likely there will not be a new record minimum ice year in the Arctic this September,” said Ola M. Johannessen of the Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Center in west Norway.

Arctic sea ice area reaches an annual summer low in September but is about 1 million square kms (386,100 sq mile) bigger than at the same time in late July 2007 at about 6 million sq kms, an area almost as big as Australia.

It is still far smaller than the average of recent decades.

Reuters