"The Arctic ice cap will vanish completely in summer months within 20-30 years, polar researchers said Thursday, sounding the alarm two months before a critical climate change summit in Copenhagen.

It is likely to be largely ice-free during the warmer months within a decade, according to findings from an arctic expedition led by British adventurer Pen Hadow.

Veteran polar explorer Hadow and two other Britons went out on the Arctic ice cap for 73 days during the northern spring, taking more than 6,000 measurements and observations of the sea ice.

The raw data they collected from March to May has been analysed, producing some stark predictions about the state of the ice cap."

AFP had the story October 15, 2009. [2]