Arctic sea ice shrinks to third lowest area

WASHINGTON: Arctic sea ice melted over the summer to cover the third smallest area on record, US researchers have said, warning global warming could leave the region ice free in the month of September 2030.

Last week, at the end of the spring and summer "melt season" in the Arctic, sea ice covered 4.76 million square kilometres, the University of Colorado's National Snow and Ice Data Centre said in an annual report.

"This is only the third time in the satellite record that ice extent has fallen below five million square kilometres, and all those occurrences have been within the past four years," the report said.