September 07: Arctic sea ice shrinks to record low

Arctic sea ice shrank this year to its smallest area of coverage since satellite measurements began some 30 years ago. The record low is a result of long-term climate change combined with particular weather conditions during 2007, say US scientists.

The remarkable decline made international headlines in September when European and US space agencies announced that the ice-clogged North-West Passage had completely opened for the first time, allowing vessels to sail from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

Scientists at the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) have revealed satellite measurements showing the full extent of summer melt during 2007. Ice is now starting to reform in the Arctic as winter approaches.



"We've got the final numbers now for this September, and it's a really dramatic record low," says Walt Meier, a member of the team studying the ice. "It didn't just break the record, it shattered the record. This year just obliterated everything else."

The average sea-ice coverage for September, when it was lowest, slipped to 4.28 million square kilometres. This is 23% less than the previous record low, set in 2005, and 39% less than the annual average between 1979 and 2000.

For the full article, click this link by Catherine Brahic and Reuters, hosted by the The New Scientist.