The average sea ice extent for the entire month of September this year was
5.9 million sq km (2.3 million sq miles). Including 2006, the September rate of
sea ice decline is now approximately -8.59% per decade, or 60,421 sq km
(23,328 sq miles) per year.
At that rate, without the acceleration seen in the new modeling, the Arctic
Ocean would have no ice in September by the year 2060.
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Note the number above assumes a linear model But that's not the way
positive feedback systems work. According to some modelers the ice melt could be
complete within 20 years with dire effects expected long before then. See links.
Bob Zannelli
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_http://www.theweathermakers.com/_ (http://www.theweathermakers.com/)
_http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6171053.stm_
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6171053.stm)
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