A leading polar scientists says the Arctic Ocean will be ice-free during the summer within twenty years, with most of the melting occurring over the next ten years.

A team led by Peter Wadhams, professor of ocean physics at the British University of Cambridge, drilled 1,500 holes during a 450-kilometre trek across the Arctic. They discovered that the depth of the ice has become too thin to survive the summer ice melt.

Although the melting of the Arctic ice will have the economic advantages of opening the Arctic Ocean to shipping during the summer and offering new possibilities for oil and gas exploration, the environmental consequences will most probably be extreme and possibly catastrophic.

The removal of the layer of Arctic ice, which reflects sunlight, will expose darker-coloured ocean water which will absorb sunlight and accelerate global warming. This could lead to extreme weather changes and flooding which would affect a quarter of the world's population.

British Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband says the research "strengthens the case for an ambitious global deal in Copenhagen". World leaders are scheduled to meet in the Danish capital to find an agreement to succeed the Kyoto Protocol. Delegates from 192 countries will attend the 15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change for two weeks in December.

Polar bears on Artic Ocean ice
Photo by Wikimedia Commons