Arctic trek confirms very thin sea ice - Climate Change- msnbc.com
The North Pole will turn into an open sea during summer within a decade, according to data released Wednesday by a team of explorers who trekked through the Arctic for three months.
The Catlin Arctic Survey team, led by explorer Pen Hadow, measured the thickness of the ice as it sledged and hiked through the northern part of the Beaufort Sea in the north Pole earlier this year during a research project.
Their findings show that most of the ice in the region is first-year ice that is only around six-feet deep and will melt next summer. The region has traditionally contained, thicker multiyear ice that does not melt as rapidly.
