Arctic Ice free

 It is likely that the Arctic will be ice free within 20 years.

The Earth's polar ice cap is made up of ice that is floating on top of the Arctic sea. This ice is between 3 metres thick at its minimum and 20 km thick at its maximum.

However this ice is now melting at a rapid rate. 2012 was the lowest ice minimum ever recorded while 2013 recovered slightly as the sixth lowest on record. 5 million sq/km was this summers minimum in 2013.

This ice cap is very important to us as it acts like a giant mirror reflecting the suns rays back into space.However in recent years this ice cap has shrunk due to melting with pack ice being replaced by dark water. This dark water has very different reflective qualities to ice. As the ice retreats this dark water absorbs instead of reflecting the incoming solar rays. This heats up the water which in turn increases the amount of ice that melts.The thickness of the ice is also decreasing. The combination of these factors mean that it is likely we will have ice free summers in the not too distant future.

This decline in sea ice has consequences for the local people, wildlife and weather patterns.

Local Eskimo people in Alaska see their homes increasingly susceptible to flooding and they face the likelihood of becoming climate refugees in the near future. The issues facing these people is well covered by the Guardian in America's Climate Refugees.

With more water we will have greater levels of evaporation to the atmosphere resulting in changing and less predictable weather patterns.

Wildlife such as the polar bear will struggle to survive. Less pack ice means Polar bears lose their traditional hunting grounds and they must swim greater distances to seek out their prey.