Sometimes referred to as the Earth's air-conditioner, the Arctic Sea plays a vital role in the world's climate. As Arctic ice melts in summer, it exposes the darker-colored ocean water, which absorbs sunlight instead of reflecting it, accelerating the effect of global warming.



Dr Martin Sommerkorn, from the environmental charity WWF's Arctic program, which worked on the survey, said the predicted loss of ice could have wide-reaching affects around the world.



"The Arctic Sea ice holds a central position in our Earth's climate system. Take it out of the equation and we are left with a dramatically warmer world," he said.



"This could lead to flooding affecting one-quarter of the world's population, substantial increases in greenhouse gas emissions .... and extreme global weather changes."

The third test involved determining how long small-scale boats made of each material (ice, pykrete, pseudo-pykrete) would maintain its integrity in warm water before total failure due to melting. The ice boat failed in approximately 1 minute; the pykrete failed after 5 minutes; while the pseudo-pykrete maintained its integrity for almost 60 minutes.

pykrete proved 60 times more resistant to melting when compared to normal ice.

During the ice-formation season in the Arctic, why not drop tons of shredded newsprint/paper/wood pulp over the area?

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