Arctic Ice Caps Melt As Global Warning Pushes Permafrost Closer to "Oblivion" by 2030

In 2030, there may no longer be any Arctic ice caps.  

Absorption of the sun's rays in the Arctic is set to release "the equivalent of about 20 years of CO2 being added by man" to the atmosphere, according ice scientist Professor Peter Wadhams.

Wadhams explained to the BBC that without white ice and snow to reflect sunlight, oceans absorb even more heat, moving the Arctic ice cap closer to "oblivion."

"Thirty years ago there was typically about eight million square kilometers of ice left in the Arctic in the summer, and by 2007 that had halved, it had gone down to about four million, and this year it has gone down below that," he said.

The Cambridge professor adds, "The volume of ice in the summer is only a quarter of what it was 30 years ago and that's really the prelude to this final collapse."

BBC reports that Arctic ice in summer made up 2 percent of the Earth's surface in 1980, but has halved in current times.

"Over that 1% of the Earth's surface you are replacing a bright surface which reflects nearly all of the radiation falling on it with a dark surface which absorbs nearly all."

So how does this all add up? Wadhams clarifies the process:

"The difference, the extra radiation that's absorbed is, from our calculations, the equivalent of about 20 years of additional CO2 being added by man."

Let's not forget to consider the methane gas which is now trapped in the Arctic permafrost, which could conceivably contribute to warming once the Arctic melts.