Scientists – even climate researchers – don’t usually use hyperbole. But Mark Serreze, of the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre at Colorado University in Denver, said the latest Arctic sea ice figures – which show accelerating decline – had “simply fallen off a cliff and we’re still losing ice.”

When you look at their latest charts, you can see why he chose the phrase – click on the pdf below if you don’t want to scroll down through their other data.

icedatacenter_arcticice_august2007.pdf
Dr Serreze was quoted in the Guardian as saying the Arctic could lose all of its ice in less than a quarter of a century.

“If you asked me a couple of years ago when the Arctic could lose all of its ice, then I would have said 2100, or 2070 maybe. But now I think that 2030 is a reasonable estimate. It seems that the Arctic is going to be a very different place within our lifetimes, and certainly within our children’s lifetimes.”

The main cause? Man-made global warming. Bad news if you’re a polar bear.