Arctic on thin ice: Ice‑free summers could arrive by 2030, study warns

Scientists speculate that the first ice-free day will occur by the end of August or at the beginning of September by 2030 - reports CBS News, citing a study from the University of Colorado published on Tuesday. The forecast applies to all emission scenarios.

The term "ice-free day" does not mean a total absence of ice but a reduction to less than approximately 999,000 square kilometres of ice in the ocean.

In September, there is the least amount of ice around the Arctic. Scientists predict that by the middle of this century, the North Pole region may experience the absence of floating ice for an entire month. Towards the end of the century, the ice-free season could extend for several months and could even occur in winter. "This would transform the Arctic into a completely different environment," said researcher Alexandra Jahn. "From a white summer Arctic to a blue one," she added, explaining that the outcome depends on the level of greenhouse gas emissions.

As the ice cover decreases, the surface that reflects the sun's rays also diminishes, reports the British "Daily Mail". This leads to more intense heating of the oceans, causing heatwaves. This process is already significantly underway.

The study also noted that the Arctic shows a lot of resilience. "Unlike the ice cover on Greenland, which took thousands of years to form, even if we melt all the Arctic sea ice, if we manage to figure out how to remove CO2 from the atmosphere in the future to reverse the warming, the sea ice will return within a decade" - said the researcher quoted by the "Daily Mail".