NASA: Arctic ice still melting fast

Research by NASA has found that Arctic ice is still melting in spite of a cold winter.

NASA scientists found that despite increasing levels of new sea ice, older sea ice is still in decline.

Perennial sea ice - the ice that lasts all year - once covered up to 60% of the Arctic. This figure is now under 30%, and falling. At the height of summer, when the most ice is melted, the amount of perennial ice in the Arctic is around 40% lower than the average for the past 28 years.

In the 1980s, old sea ice - ice that lasts for at least six years - covered 20% of the Arctic. This figure is now stands at just 6%. This reduction in old ice is resulting in Arctic ice being much thinner, and thus more likely to melt in the summer.

Data from US government satellites shows that over the last three years, the maximum area of sea ice in the Arctic has increased by 3.9%. However, the area is still 2.2% smaller than the long-term average.

NASA says that it will keep monitoring the situation.