February 28, 2015

Top scientist predicts polar thaw by 2050s

Daily Mail UK - The Arctic could be completely free of ice in just 40 years as a result of global warming, one of the world's leading climate change experts has warned.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Professor Oleg Anisimov said there is evidence that temperatures are rising four times faster in the frozen region than the rest of the planet.

This means that there will only be open water in the polar region by the 2050s, with nothing more than a few floating icebergs at the North Pole, according to the Russian academic. ‘For several reasons, the Arctic climate change is more intense and faster than in other regions. There is a reduction in snow and ice cover, which has a protective function,’ he said.

‘On average over the last year, the minimum area of sea ice has decreased from 5.4 to 5.3 million square kilometres [two million square miles]. Over the past 10 years, the reduction of sea ice in the Arctic was by 13.7 per cent. 

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