The US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) says that despite a cold winter, Arctic sea ice is melting even faster than in 2007. NSIDC data shows that 2008 began with ice covering a larger area than at the beginning of 2007, but now it is down to levels seen in June 2007—at the beginning of a summer that broke records for sea ice loss. The scientists said much of the ice is so thin that the Arctic seas may be ice-free in summer within five to 10 years. Julienne Stroeve from NSIDC said, “[T]he real issue is that most of the pack ice has become really thin, and if we have a regular summer now, it can just melt away. . .I think we're going to beat last year's record melt, though I'd love to be wrong.”

For more information see:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/2/hi/science/nature/7461707.stm
http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/