Arctic sea ice melting faster, says study

Arctic sea ice is melting at a significantly faster rate than projected by the most advanced computer models, a new study concludes.
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Scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) found that satellite and other observations show the Arctic ice cover is retreating more rapidly than estimated by any of the 18 computer models used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in preparing its 2007 assessments.

The study, "Arctic Sea Ice Decline: Faster Than Forecast?" appears today in the online edition of Geophysical Research Letters (GRL).
"This suggests that current model projections may in fact provide a conservative estimate of future Arctic change, and that the summer Arctic sea ice may disappear considerably earlier than IPCC projections," said Julienne Stroeve, who led the study.