Arctic will go ice-fee in next few years, scientists predict

The Arctic could experience ice-free summer days within the next decade in aprofound change of the Tundra region'slandscape from a "white Arctic" to a "blue Arctic", according to a new study.

The study, published in the journal Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, attributes this accelerated ice melt to emissions from burning fossil fuels ina significant departure from previous projections. The research suggests that the first ice-free day could arrive more than a decade earlier than initially estimated.

Ice-free Septembers on Arctic to come soon: Study

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Scientists predict that consistently ice-free Septembers may become a reality between 2035 and 2067, with the specific timeline hinging on global efforts to curb fossil fuel consumption.

Alarming scenarios project potential ice-free conditions from May to January by the end of the century under high-emission scenarios, and from August to October under low-emission scenarios.

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Lead author Alexandra Jahn, an associate professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder told The Guardian: "This would transform the Arctic into a completely different environment, from a white summer Arctic to a blue Arctic. So even if ice-free conditions are unavoidable, we still need to keep our emissions as low as possible to avoid prolonged ice-free conditions."

Is it the end? No scope for improvement?

Despite the grim outlook, Jahn suggests a ray of hope. She points out that, unlike the slow-building ice sheet in Greenland, if measures are taken to remove CO₂ from the atmosphere in the future, the Arctic sea ice could make a comeback within a decade.

"Unlike the ice sheet in Greenland that took thousands of years to build, even if we melt all the Arctic sea ice, if we can then figure out how to take CO₂back out of the atmosphere in the future to reverse warming, sea ice will come back within a decade," Jahn was quoted as saying by The Guardian.

(With inputs from agencies)