Arctic ice melting ‘faster than predicted’

The melting of the Arctic ice is happening quicker than predicted and may now be close to its ‘tipping point’ when the changes cannot be reversed, a conservation group has claimed.

The pace at which both the Arctic sea ice and the Greenland ice sheet is melting has “severely accelerated” and could bring about rapid and unstoppable change in natural systems across the world, according to WWF.

Change was occurring in all the Arctic systems affecting the atmosphere and oceans, sea ice and ice sheets, snow and permafrost, as well as species and populations.

WWF said its scientists had reviewed and updated the data produced by two important studies – the 2005 Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA) report and last year’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report.

Telegraph