Arctic Ice Melting Faster Than Expected

It’s been known for a long time that the polar ice caps were melting, but a new report suggests that the ice caps are melting at a much faster rate than previously thought. The new study says that sea levels could rise up to five feet by the end of this century.

The international Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program, or AMAP, will present their full report to the foreign ministers next week.

AMAP says that the last 6 years have been the warmest in the arctic since 1880, when temperatures in arctic climates were first recorded. AMAP also makes some scary predictions based on its research.

According to AMAP:

• The Arctic will be ice free during summer in the next 30-40 years.
• Global sea levels will raise 35 to 63 inches by 2100.

AMAP’s research shows that things are much worse than reported in a forecast made in 2007 by the U.N.

AMAP said in a summary of their report:

“The observed changes in sea ice on the Arctic Ocean, in the mass of the Greenland ice sheet and Arctic ice caps and glaciers over the past 10 years are dramatic and represent an obvious departure from the long-term patterns.”

[source: Associated Press]