Ice-free Arctic passage possible by 2010 Update

December 14, 2007
In 2007, Polar Ice Cap Vanished at Record Clip
SAN FRANCISCO – Arctic ice at the North Pole melted at a record rate in the summer of 2007, the latest sign that climate change has accelerated in recent years, climate scientists said on Wednesday.
… As ice in the arctic melts to water, it also reflects only 7 percent of the sun’s radiation, much less than the 85 percent that ice normally reflects. As more of the Arctic Ocean is exposed, it absorbs these extra sun rays, further hastening the planet’s rising temperature.
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‘Frightening’ projection: ice-free passage possible by 2010
Marianne White, CanWest News Service
QUEBEC – The Arctic Ocean could be free of ice in the summer as soon as 2010 or 2015 – something that hasn’t happened for more than a million years, according to a leading polar researcher.
Louis Fortier, scientific director of ArcticNet, a Canadian research network, said the sea ice is melting faster than predicted by models created by international teams of scientists, such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). More