The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) has announced that Arctic sea ice is now below the 2005 level and rapidly heading towards last September’s one, which was recorded as the smallest level since satellite measurements began 30 years ago.

Scientists are talking at the moment about a climatic “tipping point,” a phenomenon bound to have its fair share of aftermaths.

In 2005, when the ice level hit its second lowest level, an area of only 5.32 million sq km was covered in ice. On August 26 this year, it was reported that the ice-covered area measured 5.26 million sq km. September 2007 data revealed only 4.13 million sq km of ice covering the Arctic sea.

And things aren’t looking any brighter this year. All to the contrary, in fact. These low levels mentioned were reached in September ( 2005 and 2007, respectively), but since the 2008 graph is nothing short of  a downward slope, scientists fear that, even though the arctic summer is in its twilight days, the record could still be broken.

Nevertheless, this doesn’t seem to be the biggest issue here. The disturbing truth is that the ice level is headed down a declining path and the Arctic region is doomed to see the day when, during the summer, it will be only water. And if this had already been foreseen by scientists, who claimed that by the year 2080, the Arctic sea would be ice-free, the more recent predictions are a lot bleaker: some say by 2050, some by 2030 and some reckon it will occur within as little as 5 years.

The absence of ice is bound to have a massive impact, both economically and environmentally. On one hand, it would render drilling for oil and gas possible-which, due to methane release, will further increase warming- and on the other, animal species such as polar bears and whales would be left drifting aimlessly into what used to be their natural habitat.

Further more, the ice melting would give rise to another effect that goes by the name of

“Arctic amplification.” This happens “when the warming up north is increased in a feedback mechanism and the effects spill southward starting in autumn,” explained senior scientist Mark Serreze at the data center in Boulder, Colo. to Associated Press.

Any way one might look at it, the picture looks really grim and leaves almost no room to hope for improvement or change. No ice on the Arctic sea could mean a torturous rite of passage for the Earth as we know it now. And it will not overcome it unscarred.