Melted Ice In Cubic Kilometers Since The Start Of The Year:

Live Melted Ice In Tons:

(4756 Tons Per Second)

                                  Is The Ice Permanent?   Ice reflects incoming sunlight back into space. The self- reinforcing effect of melting ice and the increased radiation absorption of the sun because of the darker surface could result in a veritable chain reaction in the next few decades. If large parts of the Arctic ice were to melt away, it would change the global climate so that in Europe, for example, summers would become hotter and winters milder. Huge chunks of ice will break off, and the Arctic Glacier will 'calve'. In 2012, an iceberg broke away from the Greenland ice shelf, which was twice as large as Manhatten. Surfaces which have become free from ice are already attracting oil companies with the aim of drilling for oil, which releases burned gases into the atmosphere, and will exacerbate the greenhouse effect even more.

                    The Big Thaw At The Polar Caps   In the Arctic alone, ice melts at a rate of 4756 tons of ice per second! Using satellite images, researchers have determined that over 150 cubic kilometres of ice melts each year.By comparison, the Danube carries an average of 6855 cubic metres per second. Overall, sea levels are rising annually by 1.5 millimetres, and about one-tenth of that adds to the melting and the sea flowing waters of the Arctic ice. Since weather records began, the ice has never melted as fast as it is at present, and climate change is believed to be the cause.The effect is heightened by the fact that, as the ice sheet is melting from underneath, less sunlight is reflected, with the result that the Arctic is warming at an even faster rate.