European Space Agency satellites revealed that the sea ice in the Arctic has shrunk to its lowest level in the past 30 years. As a result the Northwest Passage, a long-sought short cut between Europe and Asia that has been historically impassable, is opening up. The Northeast Passage along the Siberian coast remains only partially blocked.

"We have seen the ice-covered area drop to just around 3 million sq km which is about 1 million sq km less than the previous minima of 2005 and 2006. There has been a reduction of the ice cover over the last 10 years of about 100 000 sq km per year on average, so a drop of 1 million sq km in just one year is extreme.” said Leif Toudal Pedersen from the Danish National Space Centre

"The strong reduction in just one year certainly raises flags that the ice (in summer) may disappear much sooner than expected and that we urgently need to understand better the processes involved." he added.

ESA said that the arctic sea ice naturally extends its surface coverage each northern winter and recedes each northern summer, but since 1978the rate of overall loss has accelerated.

In the 1980s, there was 5.5 million square kilometers of ice floating on the sea, but in 2005 the Arctic area covered by sea ice was just 4 million square kilometers. Even then, the most direct Northwest Passage did not fully open.

According to the scientists the Polar Regions are very sensitive indicators of climate change, as these regions are highly vulnerable to rising temperatures.

The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicted the Arctic would be virtually ice free by the summer of 2070, but here are other researchers who believe that this may happen even sooner. Due to rising temperatures and sea ice decline the Arctic sea could become ice free as early as 2040.

Last week the German scientists confirmed that the ice in the Arctic Sea is dramatically thinner in some places than six years ago, but cautioned that they did not know if this was caused by global warming.

Their findings were based on the measurements made during a summer trip to the area of the research icebreaker Polarstern. Measurements showed some ice on the eastern-hemisphere side of the North Pole was only 1 meter thick, compared to 2 metres the last time it was checked, the Alfred Wegener Polar Research Institute (AWI) said.

The opening of the Northwest Passage may lead to some international disputes. Russia, Norway, Denmark, Canada and the United States are among the countries in a race to secure rights to the Arctic region. Gas and oil fields are at the core of this international dispute, global warming causing the thick ice layer to melt and offer access to the untouched natural resources.

In early August, the Mir-I and Mir-II reached the Arctic seabed and scientists planted a Russian flag at a dept of 4,200 meters in another attempt from Moscow to prove that the region is tied with Russia’s territory through a chain of submerged mountains.

Few days later, on August 11, Canada announced it has plans to increase the number of troops patrolling the Arctic region and build new military bases in the same area, measures that would tone up its rule over the Northwest Passage.

The announcement was made by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who said a naval station will be constructed in Nanisivik, a former company town that has a port currently used as training base for the Coast Guard.

“The first principle of Arctic sovereignty is use it or lose it. Today’s announcements tell the world that Canada has a real, growing, long-term presence in the Arctic,” the Canadian premier said at the time.