'Rapid' 2010 Melt For Arctic Ice - But No Record

The Arctic on 3rd September, as visualised using data from Nasa's Aqua satellite.

From The BBC:

Ice floating on the Arctic Ocean melted unusually quickly this year, but did not shrink down to the record minimum area seen in 2007.

That is the preliminary finding of US scientists who say the summer minimum seems to have passed and the ice has entered its winter growth phase.

2010's summer Arctic ice minimum is the third smallest in the satellite era.

Researchers say projections of summer ice disappearing entirely within the next few years increasingly look wrong.

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