Published: 13 January 2011
The facts are disturbing. By the end of last summer, Arctic sea ice coverage was at its second-lowest rate since satellite recording began in 1979. The ice covered an average of 6 million square kilometres, falling 22 per cent below the average extent from 1979 to 2000. The extent of the Arctic鈥檚 sea ice is dropping between nine and 11 per cent per decade.