The first ice-free days of the Arctic Ocean could occur as soon as the 2020s or 2030s — as many as 10 years earlier than previous projections.

For years, scientists have debated whether a giant thick ice shelf once covered the entire Arctic Ocean during the coldest ice ages. Now, a new study published in Science Advances challenges this ...

However, Cai expects that the Arctic will keep growing acidic more quickly than the rest of the global ocean until all of the seasonal Arctic sea ice melts — likely before 2050.

The Arctic's ice cover could dip below a crucial threshold as soon as 2027, and will do so inevitably in the next 20 years if greenhouse gas emissions continue, scientists warn.