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Arctic ice thickness 'plummets'
| By Mark Kinver Science and environment reporter, BBC News |
 The data proves that overall volume of sea ice is decreasing, say researchers |
The thickness of Arctic sea ice "plummeted" last winter, thinning by as much as 49 centimetres (1.6ft) in some regions, satellite data has revealed.
A study by UK researchers showed that the ice thickness had been fairly constant for the previous five winters.
The team from University College London added that the results provided the first definitive proof that the overall volume of Arctic ice was decreasing.
...Sea ice in the Arctic shrank to its smallest size on record in September 2007, when it extended across an area of just 4.13 million sq km (1.59 million sq miles), beating the previous record low of 5.32 million sq km, measured in 2005.
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"I think this is the first time that we can definitively say that the bulk overall volume of ice has decreased," observed Dr Laxon.
"So this means melting; it doesn't mean that the ice has just been pushed up against the coastline."
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"The time when Arctic sea ice is going to disappear is open to a lot of debate," he said.
"About five years ago, the average projection for the sea ice disappearing was about 2080.
"But the ice minimums, and this evidence of melting, suggests that we should favour the models that suggest the sea ice will disappear by 2030-2040, but there is still a lot of uncertainty."
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