Shrinking icecaps

One of the sure signs of global warming is the shrinking of the polar icecaps. And according to a study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, it seems to be happening. The full article (here) reports that the amount of perennial ice - the permanant cap - in the East Arctic ocean shrank by 70% in the last year. It can be graphically seen in the images below:

There was some growth in the West Arctic, but nowhere near enough to compensate; the total icecap shrank by 14% in a single year. The normal rate of shrinkage, averaged across the last few decades, is between 0.64% and 0.78%. Some of this is almost certainly the result of unusual wind patterns pushing ice from east to west - but two thirds of the ice area was lost in the process, and the resulting area of exposed water has a much lower albedo (10% vs 40 - 50%), meaning it will warm quicker, making it more difficult for the seasonal ice to reform and possibly leading to a runaway melting of the whole icecap. This won't affect sea levels, as the ice is floating to begin with, but it will accelerate the warming trend, not to mention pretty much destroying the Arctic ecosystem. I guess we'll have to wait and see whether this is repeated over the next few years, but if it is, we can pretty much kiss the polar bears goodbye...