ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- Researchers say ice floes measured in the Arctic Ocean are some of the thinnest yet observed at such high latitudes, and they blame severe seasonal melting.
"In the central arctic, the proportion of old, thick sea ice has declined significantly," researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Germany said. "Instead, the ice cover now largely consists of thin, 1-year-old floes."
The measurements were taken during the institute's "TransArc" mission to document changes in water, air and ice across the polar sea, AlaskaDispatch.com reported Wednesday.
The announcement comes weeks after U.S. and European scientists said the summer loss of sea ice in 2011 was close to previous record minimum extent seen in 2007.
The findings by the institute's polar ice-breaker Polarstern confirm a trend of sea ice loss that has accelerated during the past 10 years, scientists said.
