[an error occurred while processing this directive] BBC News
watch One-Minute World News Last Updated: Monday, 30 April 2007,
22:37 GMT 23:37 UK Arctic melt faster than forecast By Richard
Black Environment correspondent, BBC News website  Polar bear on
ice. Image: SPL Arctic summer ice has been shrinking by about 9%
per decade Arctic ice is melting faster than computer models of
climate calculate, according to a group of US researchers.
Since 1979, the Arctic has been losing summer ice at about 9%
per decade, but models on average produce a melting rate less
than half that figure.  The scientists suggest forecasts from
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) may be too
cautious.  The latest observations indicate that Arctic summers
could be ice-free by the middle of the century.  "Somewhere in
the second half of the century, it would happen," said Ted
Scambos of the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the
University of Colorado.  The fact that all models show ice loss
over the observed