'Unprecedented' melt sinks hope for Arctic ice recovery

The Canadian Ice Service is warning that the disintegration of Arctic Ocean ice cover may be worse this year than last – which, until now, was the worst on record.

The U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center reports :

Arctic sea ice extent on August 10 was 6.54 million square kilometers (2.52 million square miles), a decline of 1 million square kilometers (390,000 square miles) since the beginning of the month. Extent is now within 780,000 square kilometers (300,000 square miles) of last year’s value on the same date and is 1.50 million square kilometers (580,000 square miles) below the 1979 to 2000 average.