Over the past years, we've seen dramatic changes in the Arctic sea ice extent, which in August 2008 reached the second-lowest record. There is no doubt about it: the Arctic sea ice is in a downward trend, and the predictions don't look very optimistic either.

According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, the ice extent on September 3 was 4.85 million square kilometers (1.87 million square miles), approximately 370,000 square kilometers (140,000 square miles) below last year's values, and 2.08 million square kilometers (800,000 square miles) below the 1979-2000 average.

Leaving aside all short-term variations, the arctic sea ice now seems to make way for a huge Arctic pool, and as an example, British explorer Lewis Gordon Pugh managed to reach the farthest point than anyone else in the world on his kayak this year.

Pugh explained in an interview with the Associated Press: “last year at this latitude I saw three-meter-thick ice. Now I can only see one-meter-thick ice. In 2007, I predicted the Arctic would be largely free of summer sea ice within 10 years. Everything I have seen on my expedition confirms that prediction.”

The British explorer's observations are similar to those of many scientists, who've warned that the sea ice is irreversibly melting. Earlier this year, scientists warned that the effects of global warming have already begun to manifest.

Recent NASA observations concluded that the perennial ice now covers only 30 percent of the Arctic, compared to the 50-60 percent it used to cover in the past. Compared to two centuries ago, the oldest sheet of ice that used to cover 20 percent of the Arctic and lasted for about 6 years now covers only 6 percent of the Arctic.

Scientists are now trying to make policy makers understand that they need to make a clear distinction between the short-term effects, that show an improvement in ice level, but not as a lasting phenomenon, and the long-term effects of temperatures rising, that contribute to an Arctic meltdown.