50% of Sea Ice Gone by 2050

Arctic (ToGW) – By 2050, sea ice in Alaska will only cover nearly half the area it covered in the 1980s, federal scientists say.

Receding sea ice is a special threat to mammals which depend on sea ice to hunt.

A new report from the U.S. Geological Survey said that two-thirds of polar bears could be gone by 2050 due to reduced sea ice.

Sea ice hit a record low in August.

"I'm afraid to say, a lot of the images [of polar bears] we are going to see in the next 30 to 40 years are pretty much already established," said James Overland, a Seattle-based oceanographer for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Via :: AP